Copper Profile with Low Carbon Copper Produced in Helsingborg
The result presented in this document are taken from an LCA performed in accordance with ISO 14040:2006 and ISO 14044:2006 LCA standards. The document also follows ISO 14021:2016.
Publication date: 2024-10-29
Version: 2.0
Document number: ESD-002
Third party verifier: The ESD has been reviewed by Håkan Stripple at the Swedish Environmental Research Institute in Sweden Please contact Elcowire if you want more information regarding the verification process.
Company Information
Owner of the document: Elcowire AB, Elektrogatan 20
SE-251 09 Helsingborg, Sweden
The document owner has the sole ownership and responsibility.
Contact information: Jonas Ciardi
+46 707 614 726
jonas.ciardi@elcowire.com
Description of the organisation: Elcowire is one of Europe’s largest manufacturers of copper wire rod, wires, stranded conductors, profiles, and overhead catenary systems made from copper, copper alloys, and aluminum, with an annual production of approximately 300,000 metric tonnes. The profiles can be formed into any shape and dimension. Elcowire also produces aluminum conductors, rectangular wire, and profiles for electrical applications.
Elcowire is driven by a commitment to continuous improvement, always keeping the customer at the forefront. This results in high-quality products, reliability, meticulous attention to detail, and a strong technical partnership. The business is organized into five units: Rod, Rail, High Voltage, Specials, and Wire & Strands.
Product-related or management system-related certifications: ISO 9001 and ISO 14001.
Name and location of production site(s): The production plants are in Helsingborg, Sweden and in Hettstedt, Germany. This document concerns the production plant in Helsingborg.
Difference versus previous version
This document is the 2nd version of the document. The difference between the 1st and the 2nd version is the mass balance methodology applied for procured copper cathodes in module A1.
Copper Profile with Low Carbon Copper
Elcowire offer customers to buy Copper Profile with Low Carbon Copper (LCC) LCC is made possible through production that has undergone a substantial transformation due to electrification and automation of various stages of the process. The LCC has also been made possible by a very efficient ore concentration process and a world-class green energy mix. The result is copper profiles that has a low impact on nature and the climate.
The significantly lower CO2 emissions of the LCC are verified through several validation processes. The reporting protocol that was used for verification is the Greenhouse Gas Protocol – Product Life Cycle Accounting and Reporting Standard. The product was also validated and reviewed against the general principles in ISO 14064-3 Standard.
Elcowire applies the Mass Balance Approach (MBA), which enables allocation of specific characteristics (like biobased material or recycled content) to products from a manufacturing process without making complicated changes of the production infrastructure. Thus, copper with different specific characteristics is, within the production environment, mixed causing them to no longer be traceable directly to the source. However, by tracking the amount of each input material and the amount of product output, it is possible to estimate the amount of each input material that is used in the production of the final product.
This document provides information of the environmental impact for copper profile with low carbon copper.
Elcowire’s Mass Balance Approach
The Mass Balance Approach (MBA) is a method used to allocate specific characteristics (like biobased material or recycled content) to products from a manufacturing process. Thus, the allocation is not based on the actual physical flow but rather on a theoretical model.
In Elcowire’s MBA, the copper cathodes are grouped into three categories (LCC, 100% Recycled Copper and Standard Copper) based on the suppliers’ climate impact cradle-to-suppliers gate with respect to the principles below:
• Principle 1: Copper cathodes, with or without recycled copper, whose climate impact is less than 1.5 kg CO2 eq./kg from cradle-to-supplier’s gate, are categorized as either LCC or Standard Copper.
• Principle 2: Copper cathodes consisting of 100% recycled copper are categorized as 100% Recycled Copper, regardless of the climate impact from cradle-to-suppliers gate.
• Principle 3: Copper cathodes that do not meet the criteria of Principle 1 or Principle 2 are categorized as Standard Copper.
Note that the principles apply for cradle-to-suppliers gate, i.e., the climate impact from transportation of copper cathodes from the suppliers to Elcowire’s production site is outside the categorization.
Elcowire collects specific data on cradle-to-suppliers gate climate impact in kg CO2 eq./kg copper cathode, recycled content and transportation from supplier to Elcowire’s production site. If the supplier cannot provide specific data for cradle-to-suppliers gate climate impact, global averages are assumed according to the International Copper Association. (International Copper Association)
For recycled content, Elcowire assumes a recycled content of zero if the supplier cannot provide a verification. However, if the supplier still can verify that the climate impact is less than 1.5 kg CO2 eq./kg, the copper cathode can be categorized as LCC. Elcowire classify copper cathodes as recycled if they originate from or have previously been designated as waste material. The definition includes activities for waste management and recycling but excludes production waste that is reutilized within the same production process that generated it, as well as reconditioned and repaired products that remain in active use.
The mass balance is based on planned volumes for 2024 while the actual volumes is followed up via book-keeping with a reconciliation period of three months. The actual volumes are scaled up year-to-year to compare the climate impact between planned and actual volumes. If there is a mismatch of 10 % for the climate impacts, a recalculation of the mass balance is actualized. However, the copper cathodes are contractually purchased on an annual basis, and it is expected that deviations are small.
As described earlier, the copper cathodes are sorted into the three categories (LCC, 100% Recycled Copper, and Standard Copper) with respect to the principles above. Subsequently, weighted averages are derived for each category, considering the cradle-to-suppliers gate climate impact, emissions related to transportation from the supplier to Elcowire’s production site, and the planned volumes for 2024. The recycled content for each category is calculated by dividing the recycled fraction with the total volume of copper cathodes per category.
Product information
Product name: Copper profile based on low carbon copper with a recycled content of 44%
Product description: The copper profile is produced from copper wire rod in Elcowires production site in Helsingborg, Sweden. Copper wire rod is produced from grade A copper cathodes and the product is continuously casted and rolled according to EN-1977 and ASTM B 49 standards.
In Table 1, the minimum and maximum dimensions for the copper profile are presented and in Figure 1, a representative picture of copper profiles are shown.
Table 1. Copper profile dimensions.
Specifications:
Copper Cu-ETP, R200
Density: 8.93 g/cm3
Oxygen: max 600 ppm
Resistivity: max. 17.24 nWm
Tensile Strength: Rm 220-260 N/mm2
Product identification:
• EN 13601 Copper and copper alloys - Copper rod, bar, and wire for general electrical purposes
UN CPC code: 415
Figure 1. Representative picture of a copper profile
LCA Information
Declared unit: 1 kg of copper profile based on LCC with a recycled content of 44%
The document includes copper profile with a minimum width of 3 mm and a maximum width of 40 mm, and with a minimum thickness of 1 mm and a maximum thickness of 18 mm, and with a minimum area of 3 mm2 and a maximum area of 400 mm2
Packaging material consist of plastics.
Time representativeness: Process data are representative for 2021, while the climate impact for procurement of copper cathodes is based on planned volumes for 2024.
Databases and LCA software used: Ecoinvent 3.8 and SimaPro 9.3.0.3
Description of system boundaries: Cradle to gate with modules C1–C4 and module D (A1–A3 + C + D)1. See Figure 2 for a representation of the system boundaries and modules declared.
System boundaries:
Figure 2 Modules declared (G = generic data, S = specific data).
Estimates and assumptions: Heat, electricity, and other energy use as well as waste in the production are calculated as a weighted average using yearly production data for 2021.
Cut off criteria: All major materials, production energy use and waste are included. Materials less than 1% weight in the product are not considered
Data quality: The data quality for global warming potential for copper cathodes cradle-to-suppliers gate can be considered good as all data is based on specific data from the suppliers. For upstream transportation of copper cathodes from the suppliers’ gate to Elcowire production site in Helsingborg, the data quality can be described as
1 Equal to EPDs produced in accordance with the EN 15804:2012+A2:2019 standard.
fair. However, a conservative approach has been applied for suppliers that is located outside Europe. Data quality for waste can be described as fair. Upstream waste from copper production in A1 is based on reference values from International Copper Association as no specific data was available. The specific data for the core manufacturing process in A3 has been done thoroughly including all relevant flows and should be considered very good.
Dangerous substances: No dangerous substances from the candidate list of SVHC for authorization are included in the products.
Scenario Based Calculation
Module C and D are calculated based on a scenario.
Module C – Only the copper is taken into consideration in module C, therefore there is no impact in C1.
The copper is assumed to be transported 100 kilometres by a Euro 6 truck from the site to a recycling centre (C2). As only the copper is being considered, no processing before recycling is necessary.
In C3, the packaging of the product is assumed to be incinerated.
No disposal occurs for the products, thus there is no impact in C4.
Module D – All copper goes to recycling and the packaging is incinerated. The recycled copper replace copper made of virgin material and the incinerated packaging assumes to contribute with electricity to the European electricity grid. Therefore, both materials contribute positively beyond the system boundary.
Environmental Information
The results for the declared product are presented in the tables below. For module A1-A3, the climate impact for the GWP-GHG indicator is equal to 1.78 kgCO2/declared unit.
Potential environmental impact
Results per kg copper profile, LCC with a recycled content of 44%
Acronyms
GWP-fossil = Global Warming Potential fossil fuels; GWP-biogenic = Global Warming Potential biogenic; GWP-luluc = Global Warming Potential land use and land use change; ODP = Depletion potential of the stratospheric ozone layer; AP = Acidification potential, Accumulated Exceedance; EP-freshwater = Eutrophication potential, fraction of nutrients reaching freshwater end compartment; EP-marine = Eutrophication potential, fraction of nutrients reaching marine end compartment; EP-terrestrial = Eutrophication potential, Accumulated Exceedance; POCP = Formation potential of tropospheric ozone; ADP-minerals&metals = Abiotic depletion potential for non-fossil resources; ADP-fossil = Abiotic depletion for fossil resources potential; WDP = Water (user) deprivation potential, deprivation-weighted water consumption
* Disclaimer: The results of this environmental impact indicator shall be used with care as the uncertainties of these results are high or as there is limited experience with the indicator.
Potential environmental impact
Results
2 The indicator includes all greenhouse gases included in GWP-total but excludes biogenic carbon dioxide uptake and emissions and biogenic carbon stored in the product. This indicator is thus almost equal to the GWP indicator originally defined in EN 15804:2012+A1:2013.
Resource use
Results per kg copper profile, LCC with a recycled content of 44%
Acronyms
PERE = Use of renewable primary energy excluding renewable primary energy resources used as raw materials; PERM = Use of renewable primary energy resources used as raw materials; PERT = Total use of renewable primary energy resources; PENRE = Use of non-renewable primary energy excluding nonrenewable primary energy resources used as raw materials; PENRM = Use of non-renewable primary energy resources used as raw materials; PENRT = Total use of non-renewable primary energy re-sources; SM = Use of secondary material; RSF = Use of renewable secondary fuels; NRSF = Use of non-renewable secondary fuels; FW = Use of net fresh water
Waste categories
Results per kg copper profile, LCC with a recycled
Output flows
Information on biogenic carbon content
Results per kg copper profile, LCC with a recycled content of 44%
3 All waste flows are managed within the system limits in Ecoinvent processes, which is why there is 0 kg of waste under these modules.
4 Biogenic carbon stored in packaging material and as energy is direct balanced out in the module they are manufactured.
References
• CEN/TC 350, 2019. Sustainability of construction works - Environmental product declarations - Core rules for the product category of construction products, u.o.: European committee for standardization.
• Elcowire Group, 2024. Cathode Massbalance HBG 2024 - locked version for LCA - 20240911, Helsingborg: Elcowire Group.
• Energimyndigheten, 2022. Värmevärden och densiteter, u.o.: Energimyndigheten.
• International Copper Association, u.d. Copper Environmental Profile, u.o.: International Copper Association.
• International Organization for Standardization, 2006. ISO 14040:2006 Environmental management - Life cycle assessment - Principles and framework, u.o.: International Organization for Standardization.
• International Organization for Standardization, 2006. ISO 14044:2006 Environmental management - Life cycle assessment - Requirements and guidelines, u.o.: International Organization for Standardization.
• International Organization for Standardization, 2016. ISO 14021:2016 Environmental labels and declarations - Self-declared environmental claims (Type II environmental labelling), u.o.: International Organization for Standardization.
• Network for Transport Measures, 2024. Default and benchmark transport data, u.o.: Network for Transport Measures.
• LCA Report. Wire Rod and Profile with Low Carbon Copper, 100% Recycled Copper and Standard Copper at the production site in Helsingborg, Sweden. 2024.
