Amazon and Rio Tinto team up for greener copper in tech boom
Amazon Web Services (AWS) just signed a two-year deal with Rio Tinto's Nuton to get low-carbon copper from Arizona—the first big site of its kind in the US.
This move is all about supplying AWS's US data centers with copper that's made using fewer resources and less pollution.
Nuton uses a bacteria-based bioleaching process, which means they can pull out super-pure copper while cutting water use and emissions.
Why does this matter?
Copper demand is skyrocketing thanks to tech and renewables, but supply isn't keeping up—experts say we could see a 25% shortfall by 2040.
AWS will use its cloud smarts to help Nuton make even more copper efficiently.
Both companies say this partnership is a big step toward making US infrastructure cleaner and more sustainable—Katie Jackson, Rio Tinto's copper chief executive, said the deal would "deliver cleaner, lower-carbon materials at scale."