BHP joins trial of lower‍-‍emissions copper supply chain tracking

BHP has announced it is partnering with seven other companies in an aspiration to build a consistent value chain from raw material procurement through to product use. This will be tested through a demonstration project aimed at tracing the greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions profile of copper from mine to finished cable.

In recent years, in order to realise a decarbonised society, there has been a need to reduce GHG emissions throughout the value chain, from resource extraction to product manufacturing, use and disposal. In the copper sector, while efforts to reduce GHG emissions in the process of producing ore in mines are progressing, it is difficult to properly communicate these lower GHG emissions attributes and reflect them in the products that end users receive due to the involvement of multiple processes and organisations throughout the value chain.

The demonstration test aims to show how the GHG emission profile of copper cables can be traced using the mass balance credit model — one of the five Chain of Custody models defined in ISO 22095:2020 — helping to support broader efforts towards a more sustainable society.

In the demonstration, Mitsubishi Materials Corporation will first smelt copper concentrate produced at the BHP-operated Escondida Copper Mine in Chile — where operational GHG emissions have been reduced by sourcing 100% of purchased electricity from renewable energy — and process it into wire rod. FCM Corporation and Yasaka Electric Wire will then process wire rod sold by Sambo Metals into copper cables, which will be implemented at the logistics facility of Amazon Japan G.K. through SENSHU ELECTRIC. The environmental attributes will be managed in accordance with the Guidelines of Mass Balance Credit Model for Copper Products, and NTT Circurust and NTT DATA Japan will verify the effectiveness of information-transferring processes intended to ensure traceability and transparency.

Through this demonstration test, the companies aim to clarify issues and identify next steps towards widespread adoption of reliable value chains for copper cables made from lower-GHG-emissions copper ore.

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