Background Copper is a raw material of high economic importance in the EU. While the world’s largest copper reserves are found in the Americas (Chile, USA, Peru and Mexico), Europe has significant deposits in Poland. EU-27 production of copper was 814 277 tonnes in 2010, but this is not sufficient to meet EU demands. Copper mining and refining is highly energy demanding and as the more easily mineable ‘virgin’ copper ore becomes depleted, greater effort is needed to extract the same amount of copper. Copper mining also has a significant negative impact on the environment through particulate matter, sulphur dioxide (SO2), sulphuric acid aerosols and other emissions. To meet demand, the EU is therefore highly dependent on the refining and smelting of imported copper concentrates, as well as on the recycling of production scrap and end-of-life products. Nearly all copper products can be recycled repeatedly without loss of product properties. The average global end-of-life recycling rate of copper from 2000 to 2010 is given at 45%. Objectives The overall goal of the LIFE PCR project is to prevent the use of ‘virgin’ copper, through the increased availability of (upcycled) copper on the European market, thereby reducing the adverse environmental impacts of copper mining. LIFE PCR’s concrete objective is to demonstrate the Elemetal (i.e. the name of one of the associated beneficiaries) Copper Recovery (ECR) process, an innovative technology for the recovery of copper from the bottom-ash produced by Waste-to-Energy activities (‘WtE bottom-ash’). Copper recovery from WtE bottom-ash is traditionally done by mechanical methods such as eddy current separation, which leads to a copper recovery of around 40% with relatively low quality of the recovered copper as an output. This process is placed at the end of the ash treatment chain, before the bottom-ash is used as construction material. Because ECR treats the bottom-ash using a wet process, potentially the ageing step in the bottom-ash processing chain could be shortened or omitted in future. Lab tests with the ECR process have shown a copper recovery rate up to 90%, leaving little to no copper in the WtE bottom-ash. Besides, the process produces high purity copper cathodes (99.993% purity), giving the process a significantly lower CO2 footprint compared to traditional methods of secondary copper recovery and mechanical recovery. Another advantage compared to primary copper production (from mines/ore) is that the ECR is a closed loop process, with few emissions to the surrounding environment. It also utilises an innovative and more environmentally-friendly extraction process. The project will test the ECR technology during one year at a large household waste incineration plant in Moerdijk, the Netherlands. Expected results: The implementation and testing of the ECR technology expects to achieve the following: o The treatment of a total of 124 500 tonnes of WtE bottom ash. An expected minimal copper recovery rate of 0.3% (based on dry weight of WtE bottom ash). This will result in the recovery of approximately 373.5 tonnes of copper during the PCR project demonstration period; o Production of copper of at least 99.993% purity at a constant quality level ; o Reduced loss of chemicals and reagents in the bottom ash processing; and o Equal/better quality for reuse in construction material of leached bottom-ashes compared to non-leached bottom-ashes. The project will also conduct a life-cycle analysis (LCA) of the environmental impact of the ECR process in comparison with primary and/or secondary copper production, as well as compared to state-of-the-art copper recovery from WtE bottom-ash.