Scientists turned scrap offshore copper cables into high-purity copper powder for additive manufacturing, proving it prints well and cuts environmental impact by over 70%.
Copper is one of the unsung heroes of modern technology. From powering electric vehicles 🚗⚡ to carrying energy through offshore wind farms 🌬️, it’s the backbone of our clean energy future. Its unmatched electrical and thermal conductivity makes it essential for additive manufacturing (AM)—better known as 3D printing of metals.
But here’s the catch: global copper demand is expected to grow by 70% by 2050, and traditional mining is environmentally costly. Mining consumes massive energy, generates pollution, and disrupts ecosystems. The race is on to find greener ways to source copper.
Enter recycling and upcycling ♻️—the art of turning waste into valuable materials. A recent study explored how discarded offshore power cables can be upcycled into high-quality copper powder for additive manufacturing. The results? Game-changing for both industry and sustainability.
The research team started with offshore electrical cables—the thick, insulated lifelines that bring power from sea-based wind turbines to the grid. These cables are built tough, with layers of rubber, plastic, and, at their core, copper conductors.
The cables were shredded to separate the copper from its protective casing. What’s left? Small copper chips about the size of confetti 🟠.
This is where the magic happens. The copper chips were melted and dripped onto a sonotrode plate vibrating at 40 kHz (that’s ultrasonic sound waves!). The vibration breaks the molten copper into tiny spherical droplets, which quickly solidify into powder particles.
Think of it like shaking droplets off a wet paintbrush—but on a microscopic, high-tech scale. The result? Smooth, nearly perfect copper spheres ideal for 3D printing.
The powder was sieved into a size range of 53–150 microns, the sweet spot for Additive Manufacturing processes like Directed Energy Deposition (DED) 💥.
For copper powder to work in additive manufacturing, it needs to tick several boxes:
✅ Purity: The recycled powder reached ~99.5% copper after atomization, with impurities like tin and iron dramatically reduced.
✅ Particle Shape: The ultrasonic process produced highly spherical particles, which flow smoothly like fine sand 🏖️.
✅ Density & Flowability: Tests showed excellent packing density and fast flow—both critical for reliable 3D printing.
✅ Size Distribution: Most particles fell between 65–90 microns, a uniform range perfect for Directed Energy Deposition machines.
In other words, the “upcycled” copper powder wasn’t just good—it rivaled virgin (mined) copper powder in quality.
Having shiny powder is one thing, but can it actually print parts? The team ran experiments with a LASERTEC 65 3D system using an infrared laser.
First, they printed single tracks (thin copper lines) to test how laser power, powder flow rate, and scanning speed affected the results. They observed:
Next, they stacked tracks into a 3-layer copper block. Results showed:
This confirmed the recycled powder was fully compatible with DED printing.
The highlight of the study was its Life Cycle Assessment (LCA)—a full cradle-to-gate analysis comparing conventional copper mining vs. recycled powder production.
Here are the jaw-dropping numbers:
🌍 Global Warming Potential: 73% lower
🌊 Eutrophication (water pollution): 99.6% lower
☁️ Acidification: 98.4% lower
🔋 Fossil Fuel Use: 88% lower
In short, producing copper powder from scrap offshore cables is dramatically greener than mining new copper.
The environmental “hotspot” in the recycling process was the ultrasonic atomization step (energy-intensive), but even with that, the footprint was much smaller than mining.
Additive manufacturing is booming, but its sustainability depends heavily on feedstock materials. By closing the loop—recycling waste copper into AM-grade powder—this approach supports a circular economy where waste becomes raw material.
This has huge implications for industries like:
And all of this while slashing emissions compared to traditional mining and refining.
The study opens the door, but there’s more to explore:
This study proves that copper scrap can be reborn as high-quality copper powder for additive manufacturing. It’s not just recycling—it’s upcycling, creating something even more valuable than the raw material.
With global demand for copper skyrocketing, this innovation offers a path toward sustainable, circular, and resilient supply chains. And with additive manufacturing at the forefront of engineering innovation, greener materials like this will help power the next generation of technology.
The future of copper in 3D printing isn’t mined—it’s recycled. 🔄✨
Additive Manufacturing (AM) 🖨️⚙️ Also called 3D printing, it’s a process where objects are built layer by layer instead of being cut or cast. - More about this concept in the article "Biomimicry Boosts Additive Manufacturing 🌀🐝 Cooler, Greener Buildings".
Copper Powder 🟠🔬 Tiny spherical particles of copper (like metallic sand) used as the “ink” in metal 3D printing machines.
Directed Energy Deposition (DED) 🔦➕🧱 A metal 3D printing method where a laser melts metal powder as it’s blown onto a surface, creating strong layers. - More about this concept in the article "Real-Time Smart Manufacturing: How AI and Digital Twins Are Revolutionizing Additive Manufacturing 🏭 🤖".
Ultrasonic Atomization 🎶💥⚪ A technique that uses high-frequency vibrations to break molten metal into smooth, tiny droplets that cool into powder.
Particle Size Distribution (PSD) 📏⚖️ A measure of how big or small the powder particles are—important because even-sized particles flow and print better.
Flowability 🌊➡️⚡ How easily powder moves or pours, like comparing fine sugar to sticky flour—critical for smooth 3D printing. - More about this concept in the article "💪 Supercharging Concrete: How Steel and PVA Fibers Make Geopolymer Concrete Even Tougher".
Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) 🌍📉 A scientific “eco-check” that measures the total environmental impact of making a product—from raw material to factory gate. - More about this concept in the article "🏗️ From Ski Lifts to Skyscrapers: Giving Old Steel a New Life".
Circular Economy 🔄♻️ An approach where waste is reused or recycled back into the system instead of being thrown away—like giving old copper a new life. - More about this concept in the article "Microalgae 2.0 🌱 The Future of Environmental Nano-Factories Is Here!".
Purity (99.5% Cu) ✨🔑 How much of the powder is copper vs. unwanted elements; higher purity means better conductivity and print performance.
Heat-Affected Zone (HAZ) 🔥📐 The part of the base metal around a weld or printed track that changes because of heat during printing.
Source: Cabrioli, M.; Silva Colmenero, M.; Gholamzadeh, S.; Vanazzi, M.; Amirabdollahian, S.; Perini, M.; Łacisz, W.; Kalicki, B. Upcycling of Copper Scrap into High-Quality Powder for Additive Manufacturing: Processing, Characterization, and Sustainability Assessment. J. Manuf. Mater. Process. 2025, 9, 320. https://doi.org/10.3390/jmmp9090320
From: f3nice; Trentino Sviluppo; AMAZEMET.
