Aurubis

Copper demand keeps climbing toward 2035. Mining won't be the only source carrying it.   At the World Mining Congress (WMC) 2026 in Lima last week, the panel "From Urgency to Action" landed on one number that's hard to shake: a possible 4-5 million ton copper supply gap by 2035. New mine supply alone won't close it — permitting queues now stretch toward a decade.   So where does the rest of the gap come from?   It has to include the copper that's already above ground.   At Aurubis, multimetal recycling isn't a backup plan — it's a serious industrial business, processing a complex mix of metals every day, at a scale that already moves the needle on supply.   The real opportunity isn't proving recycling can work. It's making sure mining and recycling get planned for together, as two pillars of the same supply chain, instead of two separate conversations.   Closing a gap that size means scaling both pillars together.   Great to share the stage with Iván Arriagada (Antofagasta PLC), Marna Cloete (Ivanhoe Mines) and Eve Hanson (Energy Impact Partners).   The room agreed on the urgency. The harder conversation is building the policy and infrastructure to match it.   #Aurubis #MetalsforProgress #TomorrowMetals #WMC226 #WorldMiningCongress

Europe is sitting on a secondary supply base it has barely begun to tap.  Nickel recycling in Europe: 16% Cobalt: 22%. Copper: 45-50% — where Europe actually leads — still leaving enormous secondary value on the table.  These are not statistics. They are a strategic gap, and one Europe has the technology, the expertise, and the urgency to close. At Aurubis, we process and recycle a complex mix of 20 metals and elements every day. We see what becomes possible when the right infrastructure meets the right material stream. We also see what gets in the way.  Because the bottleneck isn't the metallurgy. It's the framework we operate in. Secondary raw materials are Europe's fastest lever for supply security. But scaling them requires more than ambition:   → Permitting that moves at the pace of the challenge.   → End-of-Waste rules that treat secondary materials as a strategic resource — not a regulatory grey zone.  → Energy prices that don't make European processing uncompetitive before we start.   → Market conditions that keep high-value scrap inside Europe's circular value chains. Tomorrow, I'll be on stage at the EIT RawMaterials Summit 2026 in Brussels alongside Macarena Gutierrez (Atlantic Copper), Frédéric Carencotte (CARESTER), Niclas-Alexander Mauss (CIRCULAR REPUBLIC x UnternehmerTUM) and Wouter Ghyoot (Umicore) — making the case that circularity is not a sustainability add-on. It is Europe's competitive advantage.  The question we're there to answer: What will it take to move from ambition to industrial scale?  #Aurubis #MetalsforProgress #RMSummit26

#Aurubis @ wire and Tube - Leading International Trade Fairs Day 3 📅 After having a wonderful customer event yesterday night, we are looking forward to day 3 in Düsseldorf on the Wire 2026. The team is prepared 💪 Welcome on our booth in hall 12 C32. #Copper #Tomorrowmetals

Today we inaugurated our new air separation unit (ASU) at Aurubis Lünen together with many partners and guests.   The ASU is an important milestone for the site and for Aurubis as a leading multimetal recycler in Europe.   With around €40 million invested, the new unit strengthens our supply security for critical industrial gases: We can now produce more than 200 tonnes of oxygen per day and up to 16 tonnes of nitrogen on site — flexibly and in high purity. Both gases are indispensable for stable, safe, and efficient metallurgical processes.   On-site production eliminates regular deliveries of liquid oxygen, avoiding up to 3,000 truck runs per year and preventing up to 8,500 t of CO₂ emissions (Scope 3) annually.   With the new ASU we strengthen process efficiency and independence from external supply.   Thank you to everyone who made this possible, especially our teams in Lünen and our partner Messer SE & Co. KGaA.   We were also very pleased to welcome Ina Scharrenbach, MdL, Minister for Heimat, Kommunales, Bau und Digitalisierung of the State of North Rhine-Westphalia, Stefan Messer, Chairman of the Supervisory Board, Messer Group, Bernd Eulitz, CEO, Messer Group, and Virginia Esly, COO, Messer Europe, in Lünen today.   #Aurubis #MetalsforProgress #Recycling #CircularEconomy

‘Europe can’t build resilience on materials it can’t secure’, this one thought keeps coming back to me, since joining the Munich Security Conference last weekend. At the conference I joined a roundtable at the MSC Startup Hub on building up Europe’s critical raw materials value chain. One thing is clear: scaling the midstream — processing and recycling — is among the most tangible ways to strengthen supply chains, fast. So, the fastest lever is already in our hands: secondary raw materials. But scaling them needs the right conditions: • faster, predictable permitting, so projects move from intention to execution • harmonized End-of-Waste rules, so material flows don’t get stuck in legal grey zones • competitive energy prices, Aurubis Richmond pays around one third of today’s European electricity levels • a level playing field for circular value chains, keep critical secondary raw materials available for Europe’s circular economy when high-value scrap leaves the region in large volumes Europe is already a global leader in recycling copper as well as industrial and precious metals, and sustained policy support is essential to keep these material flows and value creation in the region. I left the panel with momentum, and a clear takeaway: Europe’s resilience will be built in the details of regulation, permitting, and market design, not in slogans. Europe should stand firmly behind what our industry has already built and prioritize disciplined execution. What made this discussion different was partnership in action: led by CIRCULAR REPUBLIC, we worked with many partners to align on a joint position, now captured in a policy paper. Thanks to UnternehmerTUM and Technical University of Munich Venture Labs for making these conversations possible. Read the policy paper, and let’s stay focused on implementation: https://lnkd.in/ecz4JDAs #Aurubis #TomorrowMetals #MSC #Recycling #CircularRepublic #CircularEconomy

Copper is highly circular. Its access is not. That was one of the core messages from our panel at the Circular Valley Forum in Wuppertal — where we discussed how geopolitics, markets, and policy are reshaping the reality of metals. Together with Dr. Heike Denecke-Arnold (Salzgitter Flachstahl GmbH Flachstahl), Bruno Pelli (Vale), Paul M. Mählitz (Federal Institute for Geosciences and Natural Resources (BGR)) and moderator Jan Grossarth (Biberach University of Applied Sciences), we looked at copper as a test case for Europe’s industrial future. Copper is technically a “dream material” for a circular economy: it never loses its properties, and in Europe a significant share of demand can already be met through recycling. Also its co-product iron silicate provides a sustainable raw material for construction applications such as concrete. But here is the challenge we cannot ignore: → Global demand is rising fast — driven not only by Europe, but especially by China and an emerging India. → Copper is traded globally — Europe competes on price and access every single day. → High European energy costs make both primary production and recycling less competitive. → Complex rules for cross-border shipments make it harder to move recyclable materials within the EU than to export them out of Europe. So the bottleneck is not the metallurgy. It is the framework we operate in. If Europe wants to turn its “urban mine” into a real strategic asset, we need: → reliable and competitive energy, → a functioning Energy Union, → and smoother raw material flows across member states, including iron silicate. The technology is ready. The expertise is here. Now the enabling conditions must follow. A big thanks Carsten Gerhardt for giving us and the circular community such a powerful platform to discuss and engage, which I was happy to join together with my colleagues Verena von Weiss, Hans Van de Water, Thies Fingerhut. #Aurubis #CircularValley

No energy transition without metals. Recently, I was invited by Agoria to join Bart Steukers in a conversation about the importance of recycling and a circular economy in their new podcast “Return on Responsibility.” As COO Multimetal Recycling at Aurubis, I was happy to share my insights and vision for the future. Copper is infinitely recyclable without any loss of quality, making it the key metal for the energy transition. We discussed the importance of affordable and accessible energy in Flanders to enable our industry. I also spoke with Bart about how we can all manage resources wisely in a world where the demand for metals continues to rise. I look back on an inspiring exchange about shaping the future and driving sustainable growth through Aurubis metals. A sincere thank you to Agoria and Bart Steukers for this great opportunity! ___ Zonder metalen geen energietransitie. Onlangs werd ik uitgenodigd bij Agoria om samen met Bart Steukers in gesprek te gaan over het belang van recyclage & een circulaire economie in hun nieuwe podcast “Return on Responsibility”. Als COO Multimetal Recyling bij Aurubis deelde ik graag mijn inzichten en toekomstvisie. Koper is oneindig recycleerbaar zonder ook maar enig kwaliteitsverlies en is daarmee hét sleutelmetaal voor de energietransitie. We spraken over het belang van betaalbare en beschikbare energie in Vlaanderen om onze industrie mogelijk te maken. Ik praatte met Bart ook over hoe we met zijn allen slim kunnen omgaan met grondstoffen in een wereld waar de vraag naar metalen blijft stijgen. Ik blik terug op een heel boeiende uitwisseling over hoe we de toekomst en een blijvende groei mee vormgeven via onze Aurubis metalen. Een oprechte dank aan Agoria en Bart Steukers voor deze fijne opportuniteit! #Aurubis #Agoria

Metal Recycling Europe a decarbonisation driver. The truth is: modern devices are multi-material systems. A smartphone mixes over 60 materials — thereof 30 metals. As technology advances and miniaturization continues, recovery becomes more complex. Or put simply: complex materials mean potential — more elements to recover, more value to unlock. Europe can turn complexity into reliable raw material supply — if we reduce the frictions that hold back a truly circular economy. At the European Parliament of Enterprises in Brussels — where entrepreneurs debate and vote alongside policymakers — I focused, in my Sustainable Growth intervention, on what Europe should do now to unlock that potential: → Make energy competitive and predictable so energy-intensive operations can plan and invest with confidence. → Streamline permitting with proportionate, time-bound processes that scale proven CO₂-reducing technologies instead of duplicating paperwork. → Recognize metal recycling as a decarbonization driver: on par with renewables and hydrogen — and align EU funding to expand capacity. → Remove the remaining barriers to a single market for recyclables: mutual recognition and one trusted dataset. Same ambition, clearer rules, faster throughput — that’s how Europe keeps more critical materials productive use and strengthens its industrial base. Eurochambres Aurubis #Aurubis #MetalsforProgress #EPE2025

𝗡𝗼 𝗻𝗶𝗰𝗸𝗲𝗹 𝘂𝗻𝗶𝘁 𝗶𝘀 𝗹𝗲𝗳𝘁 𝘂𝗻𝘁𝗮𝗽𝗽𝗲𝗱. That was the title of my keynote at "Closing the Loop on Nickel – From Recycling to Circularity", hosted by the Nickel Institute in London. I shared how we at Aurubis are scaling multimetal recycling to recover nickel and other critical raw materials from complex secondary sources — transforming residues, electronic scrap, and industrial by-products into valuable metals through our zero-waste approach.   Nickel plays a key role in our process and in energy transition and electrification. To meet rising demand, we need what I call a powerful duo: the responsible use of primary materials and the strategic deployment of secondary ones through recycling. Only by combining both can we strengthen resilience, reduce emissions, and close material loops.   Our latest milestones — such as the commissioning of Aurubis Richmond, the first of its kind multimetal recycling smelter in the U.S., and innovations like BOB, our hydrometallurgical plant at Aurubis Olen, that recovers copper and nickel from complex bleed streams — show how we are turning this vision into reality. On battery recycling I explained why Aurubis is not planning additional large-scale now. We’re taking a capital-efficient, partnership-led approach instead — applying our proven, patented black-mass process validated in pilot and demo plants — while the European market remains early-stage with tempered growth and an uncertain industry structure. We’ll stay disciplined and ready to scale when conditions are right.   Thank you to the Nickel Institute and my fellow panelists Stijn Foerier (Umicore), Robyn Stoney (Glencore), Tobias Kämmer (Oryx Stainless Group), and Jacqueline Duiker (Duiker (De Vereniging van Beleggers voor Duurzame Ontwikkeling (VBDO)), moderated by Chris Schlekat (NiPERA Inc.), for a rich discussion on how to advance circularity in nickel production.   #Aurubis #MetalsforProgress #NickelInstitute