BACKGROUND: Bioelectrochemical systems (BESs) enable recovery of electrical energy through oxidation of a wide range of substrates at an anode and simultaneous recovery of metals at a cathode. Scale-up of BESs from the laboratory to pilot scale is a challenging step in the development of the process, and there are only a few successful experiences to build on. This paper presents a prototype BES for the recovery of copper. RESULTS: The cell design presented here had removable electrodes, similar to those in electroplating baths. The anode and cathode in this design could be replaced independently. The prototype bioelectrochemical cell consisted of an 835 cm(2) bioanode fed with acetate, and a 700 cm(2) cathode fed with copper. A current density of 1.2 A/(-2) was achieved with 48 mW m(-2) of power production. The contribution of each component (anode, electrolytes, cathode and membrane) was evaluated through the analysis of the internal resistance distribution. This revealed that major losses occurred at the anode, and that the design with removable electrodes results in higher internal resistance compared with other systems. To further assess the practical applicability of BES for copper recovery, an economic evaluation was performed. CONCLUSION: Analysis shows that the internal resistance of several lab-scale BESs is already sufficiently low to make the system economic, while the internal resistance for scaled-up systems still needs to be improved considerably to become economically applicable. (C) 2017 The Authors. Journal of Chemical Technology & Biotechnology published by JohnWiley & Sons Ltd on behalf of Society of Chemical Industry.