Copper is a nonferrous metal closely related to human beings. It is widely used in the fields of electrical, light industry, machinery manufacturing, construction industry, national defense industry, etc. It is second only to aluminum in the consumption of non-ferrous metal materials in China. Copper is a red metal as well as a green one. It is green, mainly because it has a low melting point and is easy to melt and smelt again, so it is relatively cheap to recycle. In ancient times, it was mainly used to make vessels, artworks and weapons, and famous vessels and artworks such as si mu wu ding and si Yang fang zun.

Electronics and electronics markets

The electronics and electronics market accounts for about 28 percent of the total. In 1997, the two markets became the second-largest end-user of copper consumption, with a 25 per cent market share. In many electrical products, copper (for example: wires, busbars, transformer windings, heavy motors, telephone lines, and telephone cables) has a fairly long service life, and only after 20 to 50 years can the copper inside be recycled. Other copper containing appliances and electronics (e.g., small appliances and consumer electronics) have shorter life spans, typically five to 10 years. Commercial electronics and large electrical appliances are usually recycled because they contain valuable metals in addition to copper. Still, recycling rates for small consumer electronics are quite low because there is little copper in them.

With the rapid development of electronic science and technology, some old copper-containing products are becoming more and more outdated. In the 1980s, for example, telephone switching stations and central offices were a major source of copper and copper alloy detritus, but the advent of digital switching made these bulky, metal-dense objects increasingly obsolete.

Transportation equipment

Transportation equipment is the third-largest market for copper, accounting for about 13 percent of the total, roughly the same as in the 1960s. Although the importance of transportation has not changed, the way copper is used has changed a lot. For many years, automatic radiators were the most important end users. However, the use of copper in automatic appliances and electronics has increased rapidly, while its use in the heat exchanger market has declined. The average service life of a car is 10-15 years, and almost all copper (including radiators and wiring) is recycled before it is fully dismantled and recycled.