Kill Copper: We Don’t Need to Poison the Planet to Plumb Our Sinks
Copper is toxic. Mining it destroys ecosystems, poisons water, and kills people. Smelting it chokes the air with sulfur dioxide, arsenic, and lead. It’s so bad the U.S. government regulated its production and the associated jobs out of our country. We barely mine or smelt copper here anymore, and we shouldn’t, not because it isn’t profitable, but because it’s too dangerous to human health and the environment.
So what did we do? We outsourced it to other countries.
We Exported Our Superfund Sites
Instead of cleaning up our act, we handed the problem off to countries where oversight is weak, corruption is high, people’s lives are cheap, and environmental destruction doesn’t make headlines.
Zambia’s Copperbelt is now an industrial wasteland. In 2023, a 50-million-liter acid spill from a Chinese-owned copper mine killed fish, wiped out crops, and contaminated the drinking water for over 700,000 people. In Peru, indigenous communities have been displaced and entire watersheds drained by copper operations. The Kabwe region in Zambia has lead levels in children so high that the area was declared one of the ten most polluted places on Earth.
We don’t see it, so we don’t care.
“But make no mistake: Our copper pipes are paved with people’s lives.”
And here at home, people brag about “recycling” copper like it gives them moral superiority.
Let’s be honest.
“Recycling doesn’t erase the lives lost, the suffering, and the Superfund sites we are creating by consuming it in the first place.”
It just means we’re proud to reuse a material we purchased from people and places that are dying to supply our demand.
That’s not sustainability. That’s hypocrisy, elitism, and arrogance.
There’s a Better Option: PEX
PEX (cross-linked polyethylene) is a flexible, durable piping material that’s cheaper to produce, faster to install, and cleaner to manufacture. Unlike copper, PEX doesn't require mining. It doesn’t bulldoze mountains or poison rivers. It’s made in a factory, not ripped from the Earth.
It doesn’t scale or corrode.
It resists chlorine and freezing.
It’s cheaper. It’s cleaner. It’s better.
So what’s the problem?
End-of-life disposal.
PEX isn’t biodegradable. It can’t be melted down and reused like copper. Most of it gets landfilled, and that’s fair criticism.
But here’s the SHIFT: We can fix that.
We can build the infrastructure to responsibly destroy or chemically recycle PEX here in the United States. Just like we regulated copper out of the country, we can regulate PEX into a sustainable, circular economy.
What That Looks Like
Here’s the playbook. It’s not theory, it’s modeled on systems we already use for batteries, tires, and electronics.
Manufacture PEX Domestically
PEX is derived from polyethylene—a material we already produce in high volumes.
It’s highly automatable. Low labor cost. Fast to scale.
No rare earths, no toxic waste, no foreign dependency.
Build an End-of-Life Recovery System
Create regional clean incineration facilities or partner with existing chemical recycling plants (e.g., Eastman, Agilyx).
Incentivize contractors to return used pipe, just like we do with propane tanks or vehicle batteries.
Launch a PEX Redemption Program to keep it out of landfills.
Turn Waste Into Revenue
Chemically depolymerize used PEX into raw feedstock for non-potable piping, construction plastics, or energy recovery.
In some markets, this is already happening. We scale it.
Leverage Green Incentives
Tap into the Inflation Reduction Act and DOE grant programs for clean manufacturing.
Use Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR) models now active in states like California, Maine, and Oregon.
Get LEED credits and municipal adoption for lifecycle-responsible plumbing products.
Create American Jobs
Every step, manufacturing, reclamation, and destruction create good, domestic jobs.
No tailings ponds. No toxic exposure. No respiratory lawsuits.
We keep the jobs that make the world sing, without needing a body count to do it.
“We build the jobs that make the whole world clean,
That move the water, not the cruel machine.
We build the work that doesn’t make moms cry,
We build the jobs, we build the jobs.”
Inspired by Barry Manilow
This Is Not a Pipe Dream
A mindset SHIFT. It’s a supply chain correction. A return to owning our mess instead of exporting it.
“If you told someone today, “We’re going to strip-mine half a mountain, poison a river, burn rock at 2,000 degrees, and dump the waste on villages so we can carry water through your walls,” they’d laugh in your face..”
But that’s exactly what we’re doing, because it’s hidden behind the label "recyclable."
If copper were invented today, it would never be approved under modern environmental or labor laws.
So why are we still defending it?
The SHIFT Is Clear
Kill copper.
Back PEX.
Build clean manufacturing here.
Create an end-of-life solution.
Keep the profits, the jobs, and the responsibility at home.
We don’t need to poison the planet to plumb a sink. We just need the guts to stop pretending ignorance is sustainability. And the vision to build something better.