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Copper, crime, and the circular economy: How shadow flows threaten the green transition
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DOI：10.1016/j.exis.2026.101875.png)
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Abstract
En 中文
The circular economy has become a central organizing framework for sustainability and decarbonization policy, particularly for materials that underpin electrification, renewable energy systems, and digital infrastructure. Copper occupies a pivotal position in this transition due to its electrical conductivity, durability, and recyclability. As governments and industries seek to expand secondary supply to mitigate environmental impacts and reduce dependence on primary extraction, copper circulation through recycling, refurbishment, and reuse systems is intensifying. Yet this expansion introduces criminogenic vulnerabilities that remain insufficiently examined within circular economy scholarship. This paper advances a criminology-informed perspective on copper circularity, introducing the concept of shadow circularity to describe illicit, semi-licit, and weakly governed flows of copper that parallel and exploit formal circular systems. Drawing on literature from criminology, infrastructure studies, critical minerals policy, and circular economy research, the paper argues that copper theft and illicit diversion are not external disruptions but structural outcomes of intensified material circulation under uneven governance conditions. Without explicit integration of crime-risk assessment, scrap-market regulation, infrastructure design, and social equity considerations, circular economy strategies risk undermining infrastructure resilience, exacerbating inequality, and eroding public trust in the green transition.
Keywords:
Copper
Circular economy
Metal theft
Illicit material flows
Critical minerals
Infrastructure risk
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