Recyclability is a key factor of a sustainable material. It reduces the need to mine new resources and requires less energy than mining. Copper and its alloys are virtually 100% recyclable and can be recycled infinitely without any loss of quality (i.e., copper does not degrade (i.e., downcycle) after each recycling loop as do most non-metallic materials, if they are recyclable at all). Copper retains much of its primary metal value: premium-grade scrap normally contains at least 95% of the value of primary metal from newly mined ore. Scrap values for competing materials range from about 60% down to 0%. And copper recycling requires only around 20% of the energy needed to extract and process primary metal.
Currently, around 40% of Europe's annual copper demand and about 55% of copper used in architecture come from recycled sources. New copper coil and sheet often have 75%-100% recycled content.
By 1985, more copper was recycled than the total amount of copper that was consumed in 1950. This is due to the relative ease of reusing processing waste and salvaging copper from products after their useful life.