From scrap to value: Responsible resource use at HUBER+SUHNER 

Making a meaningful and measurable environmental sustainability impact requires more than ambition. With a focus on responsible resource use, HUBER+SUHNER takes tangible action by ensuring that recyclable raw materials are recovered and returned to the value chain. And it all starts on the shop floor, as demonstrated by recycling initiatives at the company’s sites in Pfäffikon and Herisau, Switzerland.

Copper is essential to production of HUBER+SUHNER cables used primarily in the railway, automotive, and industrial sectors. At the same time, the metal has a significant carbon footprint, accounting for about 0.2% to 0.3% of global greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, and is the single largest contributor to GHG emissions at HUBER+SUHNER. 

While the company’s annual copper rod consumption of over 7’000 tonnes per year accounts for only a tiny sliver of the world’s copper use, we are committed to recycling copper with high recovery rates and keeping raw materials in the value chain. This approach requires strict on-site separation of materials, according to HUBER+SUHNER Process Engineer Martin Kaspar and André Wermelinger, Head of Operations at our Pfäffikon production site.

“During cable manufacturing, process-related copper scrap is cleanly separated to prevent contamination. Maintaining copper purity is critical as it determines the recycling value and must meet our certified recycling partners’ requirements,” Kaspar said.

The company’s pure copper scrap is collected by its recycling partner which reintroduces it for reuse in, for example, new cables. That’s a big plus because copper is particularly well suited for the circular economy, since it can be infinitely recycled with no quality loss. HUBER+SUHNER therefore introduced railway and automotive cables made from 100 percent recycled copper, which have on average a 50 percent lower carbon footprint while still meeting the high industry standards and delivering on performance.

Recycling efforts at the Pfäffikon site extend beyond copper to include waste generated in the production of ten different cable compounds for insulation, sheathing, and functional layers. Raw compound materials are weighed, mixed, melted and formed into 3 mm pellets, with each batch undergoing thorough quality control.

The cable manufacturing extrusion process generates compound waste that is collected and for one of our compounds is sent for recycling to an external partner where it is processed reused for specific applications – e.g. filler material – in cable production. Compound waste that is not reprocessed is thermally recovered.

Recycling is nothing new to HUBER+SUHNER: the company has recycled materials since 1982. Today, those raw materials include brass, steel, copper and aluminium, which are routinely separated and recycled by type, according to Lukas Heuscher and Ralph Schindler from the Logistics team at the Herisau site.

Brass recycling is a prime example of how the Herisau site contributes to the company’s sustainability strategy. Brass board-to-board (B2B) connectors, nuts for Bayonet Neill–Concelman (BNC) connectors, and their components, as well as connector housings, are machined on-site. While precision engineering and machining aim to reduce waste, brass chips – excess pieces of metal sheared or scraped away from a workpiece – are produced by the subtractive machining process.

“HUBER+SUHNER’S production of brass-based connectors each week yields around 25 tonnes of recyclable brass chips every six to eight weeks,” Heuscher explained. “A partner company collects the chips and sends them to our suppliers for reprocessing and return to the HUBER+SUHNER value chain as rod and wire.”

Since 2008, the company has had a machining scrap return account (UMA) with our suppliers, paving the way to tenfold greater cost and material efficiency. In 2025, our recycled brass volume totalled 242’500 kg.

These efforts in Pfäffikon and Herisau demonstrate how HUBER+SUHER found ways for “in-process” and “post-industrial” recycling. The company’s shop floor employees and its network of expert supply and recycling partners have valuable roles in managing our resource use and circular economy approach by reducing our dependence on raw materials. At the same time, cost efficiency increases while we continue the HUBER+SUHNER legacy of delivering high-performance products.