Emission impacts of China's solid waste import ban and COVID-19 in the copper supply chain.

ABSTRACT: Climate change will increase the frequency and severity of supply chain disruptions and large-scale economic crises, also prompting environmentally protective local policies. Here we use econometric time series analysis, inventory-driven price formation, dynamic material flow analysis, and life cycle assessment to model each copper supply chain actor's response to China's solid waste import ban and the COVID-19 pandemic. We demonstrate that the economic changes associated with China's solid waste import ban increase primary refining within China, offsetting the environmental benefits of decreased copper scrap refining and generating a cumulative increase in CO₂-equivalent emissions of up to 13 Mt by 2040. Increasing China's refined copper imports reverses this trend, decreasing

SUBMITTER: Ryter J 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC8213787 | biostudies-literature | 2021 Jun

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature