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Copper at the start: Building a responsible and critical supply chain.

Part of the CDA #ContinuousCopper Campaign – September 2025 – authored by Erin Smith (Deputy Director, EHS and Recycling)

Copper is critical, and the world needs more of it. The real question is not only how much copper we can produce, but how responsibly we can do it. Trust in copper's sustainability story starts at the source. It begins in mines, smelters, secondary refining, and fabrication facilities where choices about energy, emissions, and transparency set the tone for the entire value chain.

Guided by the International Copper Association (ICA) and the Copper Development Association (CDA), the industry is aligning around clear standards and measurable progress. ICA and CDA members are leaders in this space, setting benchmarks that distinguish them and move the market toward transparent, lower-carbon production.

Responsibility begins at the source

Copper's continuous cycle, Start → Use → End → Again, means every phase matters. But the Start phase is where responsibility is established. It is where copper's sustainability story begins, long before it powers a motor, reinforces a grid, cools a server, or delivers clean water.

Across the value chain, producers are reducing environmental impacts, strengthening efficiency, and making operations more transparent. Primary producers are investing in low-carbon energy, advanced automation, and water stewardship. Secondary producers are scaling advanced scrap recovery that keeps copper in circulation and lowers products' carbon intensity.

Fabricators are embedding sustainability into operations as well. Representative examples across CDA's membership include energy upgrades that cut Scope 1 and 2 emissions, on-site solar and renewable power agreements, high recycled-content targets in fabricated products, and ISO 50001 energy management systems that lock in performance. These are just a few examples of leadership across CDA's membership.

This work is urgent and strategic. In August 2025, the U.S. Geological Survey issued its draft 2025 List of Critical Minerals, proposing to include copper among 54 essential commodities at risk of disruption. While not yet final, this marks a turning point in U.S. mineral strategy and underscores the stakes for responsible, reliable supply. It gives the copper value chain the opportunity to be a leader and drive change throughout the industry.

Recognition must catch up to reality

Producers are making measurable progress, but current frameworks do not fully reflect or reward these efforts.

  • Policy and trade frameworks remain out of sync with industry advancements. Incentives for downstream clean technologies are growing, but upstream investment in mining, refining, and recycling faces persistent barriers. Permitting processes remain fragmented, and tax incentives for domestic production are not proportional to bolstering U.S. supply.
  • Sustainability efforts are disconnected. Producers increasingly disclose carbon intensity, recycled content, and responsible sourcing practices through initiatives, such as ICA's global LCI and LCA providing carbon intensity, recycled content, and responsible sourcing practices, but inconsistent definitions make comparisons difficult.
  • The result is slower momentum. These gaps weaken market signals, discourage capital investment, and undercut the progress producers are making across the value chain.

Alignment secures the future

Closing these gaps requires alignment around language, metrics, and transparency.

  • For buyers, regulators, and investors: copper must provide clear, standardized disclosures on carbon performance, recycled content and ESG risks.
  • For producers: there must be confidence that investments in circularity, emissions reduction, and operational transparency will be rewarded with market access and policy benefits.
  • For society: transparency ensures that copper's growth aligns with sustainability commitments, supporting progress while protecting resources.

Leadership means setting the terms rather than reacting to them. Initiatives such as critical mineral incentives and updated energy mandates are being designed now. If the copper value chain acts early to align standards and reporting, they will secure a competitive advantage, strengthen trust, and reinforce copper's indispensable role in a low carbon economy.

The path forward

Copper's unique durability, conductivity, and recyclability make it essential for sustainable technologies, but its benefits depend on secure, responsible production and policy support. The Start Phase focuses on laying this foundation through responsible practices, transparent metrics, and modernized policy. With copper's proposed designation as a critical mineral, the challenge is turning recognition into action, which can ensure resilient supply chains, global sustainability, and lasting community benefits.