Metals as a service (MaaS) for copper: A systems-scale framework for circular stewardship, digital traceability, and sustainable resource governance

Abstract

Copper sits at the centre of the global transition toward electrification, digitalization, and low-carbon infrastructure. Yet traditional linear models of extraction, fabrication, consumption, and disposal are increasingly misaligned with intensifying demand trajectories and escalating environmental constraints. Declining ore grades, rising energy intensity, and the geopolitical concentration of supply exacerbate systemic vulnerabilities, while the long residence times of copper in infrastructure delay the return of secondary material to productive circulation. In response, this paper advances an integrated, systems-scale framework—Metals as a Service (MaaS)—that reconceptualizes copper as a long-lived, stewarded industrial asset rather than a consumable input. Drawing on updated material-flow research, circular-economy policy developments, and emerging digital infrastructures for traceability, this paper demonstrates how MaaS restructures incentives, enhances recovery efficiency, reduces primary extraction, and stabilizes supply amid accelerating demand.