The Copper Development Association (CDA) has published a new suite of resources designed to help companies make more informed decisions about recycled copper content, carbon performance, and circularity.
Developed for OEM procurement teams, engineers, sustainability professionals, third-party certifiers, and auditors, the resources address a growing challenge in customer requests and procurement specifications: Recycled content is an important measure of circularity, but the percentage alone does not provide a complete picture of a product’s carbon performance.
The three new resources provide complementary guidance for different audiences:
- Essential Industry Context: Aligning Recycled Content with Climate Outcomes in the Copper System(opens in new tab) examines how recycled content, carbon intensity, scrap availability, product requirements, regional infrastructure, and material recovery interact across the copper system. The white paper provides procurement recommendations intended to reward expanded recovery, verified carbon reduction, and stronger supply resilience.
- Copper Recycled Content: What OEM Procurement Professionals Need to Know (opens in new tab) translates the findings into practical guidance for buyers. The two-page resource covers standardized reporting boundaries, scrap availability, product-specific feasibility, and procurement considerations, including the importance of evaluating recycled content alongside lifecycle carbon data.
- Copper Recycled Content: What Third-Party Certifiers and Auditors Need to Know(opens in new tab) provides a copper-specific framework for validating recycled content claims. It addresses process boundaries, treatment of scrap, mass-balance evidence, and chain-of-custody documentation, with guidance informed by ISO 14021, ISO 14040, ISO 59020, and EN 45557.
“We want claims that are clear, comparable, credible, and connected to real environmental outcomes,” says Jessica Sanderson, Director of Sustainability and ESG at the Copper Development Association.
