Nexans to make recycled-content copper

France-based electrical wire and cable manufacturer Nexans has reached an agreement with Italy’s Continuus-Properzi to commission a recycled-content copper production line at an existing Nexans site in Lens, France.

Earlier this month, Nexans announced it was investing to increase its presence in the collection of wire and cable scrap in Europe, working with Suez as a partner in that effort.

“Global demand for copper is continuing to increase and recycling is emerging as a key solution to possible shortages of this metal, which is essential to electrification,” Nexans says, adding that it is "taking steps to address this major challenge with a project on a unique scale.”

The company's site in Lens, in northern France, dates back to Nexan’s founding in 1971. The company intends to have the new recycled-content copper production line up and running in 2026.

Milan-based Continuus-Properzi supplies complete installations for the production of electrolytic tough pitch (ETP) and Fire Refined High Conductivity (FRHC) wire rod.

The objective of the new plant, says Nexans, is to continuously produce wire rod from recycled copper through a state-of-the-art refining method using up to 100 percent of recycled metal while optimizing water and energy consumption.

Nexans says the Lens plant currently is the only copper rod foundry in France. With its new investment of more than 90 million euros ($97.4 million), the company says it will increase its wire rod production capacity by over 50 percent and boost its copper scrap recycling capacity to manage up to 80,000 metric tons per year.

Combined with its Suez Recycâbles joint venture, Nexans says the new initiative will make it “a key player in the circular economy of the European copper industry.”

The Continuus-Properzi system will be implemented for the first time in France in Lens, and will help Nexans maintain and enhance its vertically integrated status.

“I feel extremely proud to have signed this strategic agreement with Nexans, a highly prestigious name in cable manufacturing,” Continuus-Properzi President Giulio Properzi says. “Our collaboration is based on the recycling of copper scrap, a subject we have been working on for many years, dating back to the pioneering days when my father first developed the technology for the continuous casting of copper rod."

By collecting and preparing copper wire and cable scrap from urban mines and then converting it into new wire, Nexans says it will be entirely self-sufficient in terms of the copper supplies required for its entire cable production value chain.

Nexans also intends to reduce its carbon footprint and raise the proportion of recycled copper in its cables to 30 percent by 2030.

“Through this investment in its historic Lens plant, Nexans is ensuring its strategic independence and staying ahead of the raw materials crisis, serving its customers and partners," Nexans CEO Christopher Guérin says. "By supporting employment and investment at our metallurgical site, we are also proving that an innovative industry can be a local industry.

“I am particularly proud of this partnership, which strengthens our supply chain and enables us to better anticipate a fundamental trend for the group and our customers, where today's waste will become tomorrow’s growth.”

Globally, Nexans employs about 28,500 people in 41 countries and its products serve markets in the power generation and transmission, distribution, usage and industry services sectors.