BT Set for £2bn Windfall from Copper Sales Amid AI Boom
BT is positioned to secure an estimated £2bn-plus windfall over the next decade by selling off redundant copper cabling, driven by a transition to full-fibre broadband and surging metal prices tied to artificial intelligence infrastructure expansion, according to reporting by The Guardian.
The Mechanics of BT’s £2bn Copper Recovery Program
Global metal markets have experienced intense price appreciation driven by the rapid buildout of data centres, consumer electronics, and renewable energy grids. Copper reached an all-time high closing price of $14,294 per metric tonne, approaching an intraday peak of $14,500 earlier in the year amid strict global supply constraints.
Through a partnership with EMR, the UK’s largest cable granulation company, BT has secured £99m upfront for thousands of tonnes of surplus stripped copper. This represents the second major payment obtained as the company rolls out full-fibre broadband to 30 million homes by the end of the decade through its Openreach subsidiary. Forward sale agreements span approximately 20,000 tonnes of copper over four-year periods, excluding any additional revenue generated annually by selling recycled copper on the spot market at prevailing prices.
Scaling Extraction Amid Supply Chain Pressures
Volume recovery has accelerated rapidly across recent fiscal reporting periods. BT recovered nearly 10,000 tonnes of copper in the year to the end of March 2026, marking an increase from the 5,600 tonnes reported in 2025 and 3,400 tonnes in 2024. Total accumulation reached 22,347 tonnes since the programme commenced in 2023, when the average market price hovered around $8,500 per tonne.
Openreach management has indicated that up to 200,000 tonnes of copper could be recovered throughout the 2030s as the network migration continues. Industry analysis suggests that total projected tonnage could yield over £2bn at current valuations. Rating agency S&P Global forecasts that global copper demand will expand from 25 million metric tonnes to approximately 50 million metric tonnes by 2035, creating sustained upward pressure on supply chains.
“We recovered even more copper cabling. Removing 9,147 tonnes from our network for recycling at a time when global demand has never been higher.” — Mike McTighe, Chair of Openreach
Environmental and operational drivers underpin the strategy. According to Abby Chicken, Head of Sustainability at Openreach, retiring legacy infrastructure reduces waste and supports the UK’s energy transition. “As we connect the nation to more reliable full fibre, we’re able to retire parts of the legacy network that are no longer needed,” Chicken stated, emphasizing that keeping critical resources in circulation mitigates severe global supply chain bottlenecks.