Collecting and Recycling - Scrap Metal

Scrap! Its whats for dinner tonight!
Recycling scrap metal can be very profitable, especially if you know what you doing, but even if you don't, its why I'm here, to assist you in your craving for metals. Ha ha! Before we get a head of ourselves, if you haven't gotten the chance too, read my other blog on recycling: Recycling - Plastics, Aluminum, and Glass. There are many good tips in that posting that you can also use for collecting scrap metal.

What Do I need First?

• Some Knowledge of Different Metals
• Wire Cutters
• Razer Blade/Cutter
• A Place to Separate and Store Your Metal

There are many kinds of metals in the world. A lot of which have a recyclable value of some kind. Knowing their value and being able to identify them from almost a quick glance is important as it will save you time, sweat, and maybe even tears! I'll provide a list and descriptions (along with pictures) below encase you need to refresh your memory on what metal is what.

Copper on pallets

Copper: With a reddish color to it, copper is the one of the most valuable metals you can find. When exposed to moisture, copper will obtain a light green color type of rust, but this rust can be cleaned off so its not really much of a problem. Copper is used allot in electronic wiring and in plumbing. There are also 2 different kinds of copper, Clean and Dirty. Clean copper, which is bright and has a shine to it, will always net you more. However dirty copper, which could be stained with a green layer or blackened and not shine, will net you less depending on the recycle place. Also, if you leave the insulation on wiring, you'll be given allot less. So it is totally worth the time to strip the insulation off the copper wire.

Aluminum: Has a silver like color to it and its value is a little less then Copper, but it still is worth collecting. Aluminum is used in allot of products: soda cans, house gutters, electrical cables, and piping. Aluminum is the most commonly found discarded metal. On a daily basis, you can see it on the freeways and streets from pipes and soda cans, but mostly soda cans. It is also one of the fewest metals that can be 100% recycled.

Stainless Steel: Usually has a silvery dull shine to it, its value is about the same as aluminum. Stainless Steel is used in many products from cookware, cutlery, hardware, surgical instruments, and to major appliances. As the name mentions, stainless steel does not rust cause of the way its made. It is easily found in outdoor areas and in moist climates.

Steel: Almost the same as Stainless Steel, except lacking the non-rusting abilities of its cousin, is used in many products from home appliances, piping, tire rims, food cans (soup/vegi/meat), bolts, and nails. Most can be found near building tear downs, in your own home, and sometimes in and around dumpsters.


Now that you know the low down of metals, the next step is to know.. where you gonna store it? Depending on your living situation, either be a house or an apartment (or car), there are a few places to store your metals. Its best if you can keep your scrap metal outta of the elements, cause normal steel and copper corrode and that lowers their value. You could keep them in your garage (if you have one) or on the balcony. However, if there is no place to keep them inside, try keep them covered with like a tarp or put them in a plastic container.

My personal way to store and keep metals separated are in milk crates. They are sturdy, not to big or to small, and they got handles for easy transport! Milk crates can be found at your nearest grocery store and sometimes even at the recycle center.

Where do I start?
Finding scrap metals just lying around, specially in big piles, is gonna be very hard, unless your really lucky! However most of the time that won't be the case, so the first place you could start is in and around your own home. From there on out, start looking around your own neighborhood and your place of work. Collect empty soup cans. Cut the extension wires from thrown out small appliances and collect thrown out tv cable, which has copper.

Fair warning, it is against law in most countries to go into "abandoned" buildings and remove these precious metals from the property. The reasoning on why is 3 things:

1. Harvesting metals, such as wiring, from a building could be extremely dangerous as wire could still be live even though the building is abandoned. Not only could someone get extremely hurt, but could die from electricity still going through wires. So its more of a law to prevent loss of life.
2. Taking metals from a building can be considered stealing since the building that you're harvesting from usually is owned by someone.
3. Most abandoned buildings have fencing around them or "should" be locked up. Just because its abandoned doesn't mean its not owned by someone. So you have trespassing issues

The Pay
The amount of cash you'll get varies by two things important factors:

• The metals in which you have
• The amount in weight in which you've collected

The most valuable scrap metal you can collect is by all Copper, while Steel the least valuable. The amount in weight, per pound, will determine how much you get too. Which why its important to collect a good amount, 30 lbs+, before even thinking about taking it to the recycle center. The less trips you can take, the better the reward.

Conclusion
Recycling scrap metal can be a fun small hobby, which can be educational to you and those around you. Heck, it might even lead to something else, like the learning of metal fabrication and my personal favorite, armor smithing.

Links:
Collecting and Recycling Plastic Bottles, Aluminum Cans and Glass Bottles
Dr Andrew J. Smith - How to Make Money Recycling Scrap Metal (very detailed)