Taking scrap metal to the recyclers.

[Globalti]

On Saturday morning I got up early and took a car load of scrap metal to the local recycler. It's a lot smarter nowadays, you have to get an account then show your barcode to the lads who do the weighing. The money gets paid into your account so no cash is handled. With "heavy copper" (plumbers' waste) currently at £3,300 a ton I got £3.30 for a few bits of old pipe and I got another £43.00 for three alloy wheels, a small broken alloy ladder and some ferrous stuff. Not bad for a morning's work and definitely better than taking it down to the dump and chucking it in the skip.

I've got eight cast-iron fence stanchions to go next Friday.

If you take an old copper cylinder down, be sure to chip off the foam insulation or they will reduce the rate.

 

[EltonFrog]

Yep, I got about a tenner for an old cast iron wood burner about a year ago. Very sophiscated they are, I had to give proof of address and my bank card and they just credited the money to my account.

 

[ianrauk]

There was a TV series about scrap metal dealers and traders a while back.

In London there are lot of people just scouring the streets to find metal to sell.

 

[Ganymede]

There was a TV series about scrap metal dealers and traders a while back.

In London there are lot of people just scouring the streets to find metal to sell.

Not just in London. Leave any bit of metal, wanted or unwanted, lying around and someone's had it before you can say "knife". I was left with a load of useless panes of glass after we foolishly allocated 2 days to dismantling an old greenhouse (at an empty property) - came back the next day and the frame had gorn.

I hope the new financial fastidiousness will stop cable theft etc. Locally, a neighbour of mine reported a bloke who'd nicked some stuff from him to the scrap merchant - next time the bloke arrived the scrap merchant told him he was banned!

 

[Berties]

i always have a scrap pile behind a shed in my garden and take it to the scrap yard every 6 month,prices have gone down on mixed lots,copper and lead has kept its value and cat convertors keep their value,all you need is id and they pay you by cheque,going to the scrap yard is always an experience,they seem to have a language of their own and you rub shoulders with some original characters,

 

[gavroche]

Do they take old radiators too?

 

[postman]

Last month dishwasher packed in.replacement fitted and old one place on driveway.30 mins later up pops white van two blokes,dishwasher gone.Excellent.The company who delivered the replacement wanted £14-95 to take it away.Result.

 

[Archie_tect]

There's a white Transit pick-up that is constantly up and down our street looking to take stuff whenever there are any work vans about, a cast iron bath[broken], and copper fittings, put on the drive by the plumber to run to the scrap dealer, went during his lunch-break.
I thought that it's theft if they don't ask if they can take it.

I had 3 wear-damaged alloy wheels taken from down the side of our house last year before I could get them to the scrap dealer...

 

[Ganymede]

There's a white Transit pick-up that is constantly up and down our street looking to take stuff whenever there are any work vans about, a cast iron bath[broken], and copper fittings, put on the drive by the plumber to run to the scrap dealer, went during his lunch-break.
I thought that it's theft if they don't ask if they can take it.

Yes it is. But I think things left on drives are considered fair game (as per postman's dishwasher above) so you have to exert constant vigilance!

 

[stephec]

Fair game, I park my car on the drive, I wouldn't consider that fair game.

They're just a bunch of thieving pikey wan..rs.

 

[DaveReading]

When we had our kitchen refitted last year, we asked our fitter what to do with the old appliances. He told us to leave them outside the front of the house and rest assured that the fairies would take care of them.

To the fairies' credit, they did in fact knock on the door and ask, in a soft Irish accent, if it would be OK to take them.

 

[PK99]

There was a TV series about scrap metal dealers and traders a while back.

In London there are lot of people just scouring the streets to find metal to sell.

Put something in the front garden with a "SCRAP" notice on it and it goes the same day! - normally with a knock on the door to check. I've got rid of a number of "just too heavy" items that way.

 

[Globalti]

Do they take old radiators too?

Yes. Stack them in the back of an estate car and drive down to the scrappie.Best to go early because there are usually plenty of cars and vans doing the same as you. Register with your plastic driving licence then drive over the weighbridge, dump, weigh again and up to the office for payment. You'll be amazed at what you get.

 

[Globalti]

Well you've got to remember to drive the car away before someone picks it up with a big grab and crushes it.

 

[MarkF]

Same here, all the neighbours just put scrap metal inc old washers at the end of the street, I'd say it goes within the hour. There are still several horse drawn carriage guys around, one took my lads MTB in the time it took him to lay it down and deliver a paper.