Company Blog 2026-07-18 15:57:14

What is the best way to scrap copper wire？

2026-07-18 15:57:14

Back to Article
List

Scrap electrical cables contain valuable copper resources. It is crucial to recover scrap copper wire quickly and efficiently. The best method for processing copper wire is to use advanced cable wire recycling machines to strip the copper wire rapidly. Through processes such as shredding, gravity separation and conventional sorting, copper granules and plastic sheathing are separated. The metal recovery rate can reach 98 per cent, thereby enabling the recycling of resources.

Disadvantages of Traditional Recycling Methods

Incineration: The traditional method involves ‘burning to extract copper’. This relies on the flammable nature of the wire insulation to burn the scrap cables, after which the copper is recovered. However, during the incineration process, the surface of the copper wires undergoes severe oxidation, thereby reducing the recovery rate of non-ferrous metals. It should be noted that burning the insulation causes significant environmental pollution, and many countries and regions have already explicitly banned this practice.
Manual Stripping Method: This involves manually stripping the outer sheath from copper wires. It is labour-intensive and costly. For mixed cables—such as automotive wiring, network cables and dismantled household appliance wires—the separation efficiency is poor. With labour costs rising, this method is increasingly rarely used for recycling scrap cables.

New Physical-Mechanical Method

The copper wire recycling machine utilises dry physical separation technology. Through crushing, separation and sorting, This extracts both metallic and non-metallic elements. The process simply requires feeding the scrap cable copper wires onto a conveyor belt. The entire recycling process is fully automated, yielding pure copper granules and plastic. The sorted materials can be sold directly to metal processing plants for the manufacture of metal products, whilst the plastic can be sold directly to plastic processing plants. This method offers advantages such as high recycling efficiency, high purity of sorted materials, and environmental friendliness and energy efficiency.

cable wire recycling machines