MiningWasteandEnergy

Mining copper produces dust and waste gases like sulfur dioxide, which contributes to air pollution. While miners minimize this pollution by trapping sulfur dioxide gas and using it to make sulfuric acid, the process of recycling copper rarely contributes to gas emissions that can pollute the environment. Additionally, extracting copper from ore requires more energy than recycling copper, which uses only about 10 percent of the energy necessary for extraction.

GasEmissions

Because recycling copper requires less energy than extracting copper from ore, there are fewer gas emissions into the atmosphere, and recycling allows for the conservation of valuable resources like coal and oil. Copper alloys might release fumes when melted. For example, Beryllium is sometimes used in alloys with copper; while beryllium is not dangerous in its solid state, its gaseous state is a known health hazard. Fume extraction equipment can reduce the number of hazardous gases entering the atmosphere.