How To Incorporate Recycling Into Your Daily Life

Sorting Through Your Scrap Metal to Make Money

8 February 2019 by Alberto Williams

For some people, selling scrap metal is an occasional opportunity to make cash on the side. Everyone finds junk that they must dispose of from time to time, so they may as well make money from it. Others may try to turn it into a full-time earning venture, perhaps by taking scrap from their friends or the roadside. Whichever camp you fall into, it's in your best interests to sort through your scrap to maximise your profits. Using some insider tips, you'll find that doing this is easy.

Target whole items you don't need to break down

In some cases, recycling centres would rather you break items down to receive the full price. For example, if the item you're scrapping features a lot of plastic, the scrap yard will incur costs when disposing of it. In contrast, items such as motor parts feature a high enough proportion of metal for this to not be an issue. If making money is a big priority, focus on whole items you probably don't need to break down.

Try to identify and sort through different types of metal

Different types of metal have different values, with aluminium and brass attracting especially good prices. If you have a magnet, identifying metal that's ferrous and non-ferrous is easy. If the metal sticks to the magnet, it's ferrous. If not, it's non-ferrous.

Other ways to sort through the metal include:

• Colour: Aluminium usually has a dull metal appearance, brass has a yellow-ish appearance, and copper is easy to identify.
• Weight: If you're selling scrap aluminium, you may find it's much lighter than other types of metal.

Sorting different types of metal into individual containers ahead of scrapping them doesn't necessarily result in attracting a better price. However, if you become aware that different recycling centres place a higher value on certain types of metal, sorting through your scrap helps you take advantage of that. 

Do a little pre-sale cleaning

Whether you're selling aluminium scrap or steel, it makes sense to do a little pre-sale cleaning to attract more money. Recycling centres incur costs when they need to remove dust and heavy dirt, so it makes financial sense to do the work for them. If cleaning the metal becomes too time-consuming, consider asking your local recycling centre how much it costs for them to do it.

With an organised approach, it's possible to make money from aluminium scrap and other types of metal. Always shop around for prices between sales and make sure the recycling centre adheres to state regulations. For more information, contact a company like Metal Merchants.

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