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Scientists use microwave radiation to recover copper from old VVF power cables
(www.pv-magazine.com)
This is a most excellent place for technology news and articles.
Well, you're assuming this is all flat, unbent wiring. When this stuff is scrapped, it's just a folded mess or ball. They want to just take a big junkyard mess of wiring and melt all the plastic off without any toxic byproducts, then recover the copper.
They want but they can’t (yet)