August 25, 2023 – Nexans reports its Montreal cable recycling facility has been awarded the Responsibly Produced Copper certification from The Copper Mark.

The company also says it is the first rod fabricator to receive this award in North America.

“Our goal is to electrify the future, and this is made possible through designing and manufacturing cables that aid the world’s energy transition,” said Jerome Leroy, Nexans Canada. “We look forward to continuing our metallurgical recycling initiatives in the Montreal facility to create a more sustainable future.”

The Copper Mark certification demonstrates the industry’s contribution to sustainable development, says Nexans, and “provides a comprehensive social and environmental assurance program for copper production”.

LETTER OF COMMITMENT (PDF download) – Nexans The Copper Mark Montreal LETTER

Nexans forecasts the total copper consumption to reach 575,000 tons by the end of 2023, and continue to increase over the next few years. However, there is not enough new copper to meet this growing demand, putting “the globe at risk of a shortage and slowing the renewables transition”.

Its facilities in France, Chile, and Canada create an added 30% of wire by mixing copper cathode with recycled copper. The Montreal facility that received the award is the oldest in the group, producing nearly 230,000 tons of copper rod each year with 10% being composed of recycled copper. This equals 120,000 kilometres of Nexans’ residential cable, or 2800 kilometres of industrial cable.

According to its website, The Copper Mark “is the leading assurance framework to promote responsible practices across the copper, molybdenum nickel and zinc value chains”.