Our customers are facing a key challenge today: how can electronic products be produced safely, sustainably and economically when raw materials are becoming scarcer worldwide and supply chains more uncertain?
Copper - the heart of every printed circuit board - plays a key role here. Its availability and quality not only determine the performance of an electronic system, but increasingly also Planning security, cost stability and environmental balance.
As a European PCB manufacturer, we take responsibility for this stability - together with our recycling partner MPM Environment Intelligence GmbH. By recovering copper and other recyclable materials from printed circuit boards, we ensure a Reliable, regional material base, from which our customers benefit directly:
consistent quality, stable prices and a supply chain that can withstand volatile times.
After all, copper recycling is far more than just a sustainability issue - it is a strategic factor for the Future viability of European electronics production.
Securing raw materials through recycling
A strategic imperative
Copper is one of the most important & critical raw materials for electronics manufacturing. According to USGS reports, its static range is only around 42 years, and production is becoming increasingly energy-intensive - less than 1 % Copper yield per ton of ore in mines today up to 20 % yield from PCB scrap opposite.
In Europe, around 50 % of the copper consumed from recycling sources. This proportion must continue to rise if the industry wants to secure its supply in the long term.
Depending on the material, the proportion of critical raw materials imported is between 70 % and 100 %, The Asian market is almost completely in Asian hands for many specialty metals and rare earths.
Copper recycling is therefore not a marginal issue of sustainability, but a Central industrial policy task.
MPM Environment Intelligence
Technology partner for closed raw material cycles
One example of how recycling technology works strategically in Europe is the MPM Environment Intelligence GmbH from Bad Grund. The company is one of the leading specialists for the recycling of Printed circuit boards, metal-containing dust and electronic scrap and processes around 25,000 tons Material - with a Recycling rate of over 99 %.
MPM's capability is particularly relevant for the electronics industry, Copper fractions from complex printed circuit board structures.
This means that the material is returned to the industrial value chain - instead of being lost in the form of waste or export losses.
But MPM goes even further: with a patented chemical process (DE102019106524A1) succeeds for the first time in Material recycling of thermosets and epoxy composites from printed circuit boards. This innovation also makes it possible to recover the previously „non-recyclable“ carrier material in new product quality - a technological breakthrough with potential for Carbon and especially glass fiber composites in other industries such as aviation, automotive and wind energy.
In this way, MPM makes a decisive contribution to turning linear material flows into real Circuit structures a prerequisite for a successful resilient, European electronics production.
Resilience through regional cycles
A printed circuit board „Made in Europe“ that is made from recycled copper is not only ecologically sound, but also reduces concrete emissions. Supply chain risks:
- Security of supply:
Recycled materials are available regardless of global market distortions. - Cost stability:
Local copper cycles are less susceptible to raw material price fluctuations and transportation costs. - Technological control:
European recyclers such as MPM work according to CENELEC and ISO standards, which ensures consistently high material quality - crucial for PCB manufacturers who rely on process stability.
Short distances - lower carbon footprint:
Regional recovery reduces transportation costs, simplifies audits and improves supply chain transparency.
Europe in global comparison
The Asian region - in particular China, Thailand and South Korea - currently dominates over 80 % of global printed circuit board production. However, this dependence harbors risks: political tensions, export controls for critical earths & metals (e.g. gallium, germanium) and unstable energy prices.
Europe can and should mitigate these risks by supporting the Recycling cycle on our own continent from raw material to recycling to final production.
Copper recycling in partnership with companies like MPM creates precisely this strategic bridge:
It not only secures materials, but also strengthens Technological sovereignty, innovative capacity and location stability in a sector that is essential for all future technologies.
Conclusion
Resilient supply chains are not created by new trade agreements, but by Own value creation competence.
Copper recycling from printed circuit boards - technologically implemented by partners such as MPM Environment Intelligence - is a key factor for Europe's competitiveness.
It enables the European electronics industry:
- Securing raw materials from our own hands
- Reduce dependencies on Asian suppliers
- Use recycled materials in virgin material quality
- and thus PCB production, technology development and sustainability.
From scrap to sovereignty - copper recycling is the key to a resilient European electronics industry.
