Tradespeople come across electrical scrap metal every day. But, which ones will get electricians the biggest payout at our scrap metal recycling yard? Find out more below!
Scrap Aluminium
Offering a lightweight, corrosion-resistant and cost-effective solution for a variety of electrical applications, aluminium is often used in wiring due to its high conductivity.
Infinitely recyclable, there are many benefits to reusing aluminium. For instance, recycling one tonne of aluminium saves nine tonnes of CO² emissions. That’s equivalent to driving 31,500 miles!
Other common scrap aluminium products you can find in the electrical trade include, but are not limited to:
- Bus bars
- Cables
- Generators
- Motors
- Power transmission lines (you may only work with these if you are a high-voltage electrician)
- Transformers
Scrap Brass
Able to be manufactured into small and intricate components, brass is commonly used in a wide range of electrical fittings due to its conductivity, corrosion-resistance and durability.
Seeing as brass is an alloy of copper and zinc, brass recycling negates the need to mine these metals from scratch, conserving natural resources and reducing greenhouse gas emissions.
Brass can be found in the following electrical components:
- Connectors
- Terminals
- Various components of sockets & switches
Scrap Copper
Considered the best of the best for electrical wiring, copper insulated wire can be found across many electrical appliances due to its excellent conductivity. Fun fact: Copper is the second most conductive metal after silver!
Rather than adding to the UK’s growing landfill problem, why not do your bit for the environment by recycling your copper instead? The scrap copper recycling process is said to use just 10-15% of the energy needed to mine the material from scratch.
In the electrical trade, copper wire can be found in the following items:
- Car batteries
- Electrical conduits
- Electronic devices, e.g. laptops, mobile phones, etc.
- Power tools
- Solar panels
Scrap Lead
Well-known for its impressive malleability, lead is used across a versatile range of electrical applications, ranging from batteries and solders, to medical imaging equipment and anti-radiation products.
The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) estimates that recycling lead-acid batteries reduces energy consumption by up to 80% in comparison to producing new batteries from scratch. Recycling lead in general also conserves our fossil fuel stores, lowering greenhouse gas emissions as a result – which sounds like a win to us!
If you’re an electrician, you’re most likely to find scrap lead in:
- High-voltage cables
- Lead-acid batteries
- Lead-based solders
- Radiation shielding (you may come across this if you are involved in a medical or nuclear electrical project)
Scrap Steel
The only ferrous metal on this list, steel is often used for electrical applications due to its magnetic properties and long-lasting stability when used in electrics.
Because steel is an alloy of iron and carbon, recycling and re-using the metal negates the need to mine for new materials and refine iron ore – using significantly less energy and reducing the harmful pollutants associated with steel production.
Steel lends itself to a range of electrical products, including but not limited to:
- Rotors
- Stators
- Transformers
Electrical Scrap Metal Prices
Scrap metal prices are always changing. This can be due to supply and demand, whether your scrap is ferrous or non-ferrous and the type, quantity and grade of your metals.
That’s why, to ensure you always walk away with the best scrap metal prices, our scrap metal buyers base our strategy on the London Metal Exchange (LME). The LME sets the global standard for the hedging, trading and pricing of industrial metals.
This approach ensures we follow best practices by offering competitive, fair, and accurate prices in line with the industry’s standard at the point of trading.
To make sure you always walk away with the best price possible, follow our guide on how to maximise the value of your scrap metal.
Scrap Metal Recycling For Electricians
As experienced scrap metal merchants who work in a trade ourselves, we understand the need for a quick, trustworthy and hassle-free scrap metal recycling service.
That’s why, if you bring your scrap metal to us before 4pm, we can guarantee you a same-day payment! Can’t make it to us before then? No problem! We’ll simply pay you the next day.
While our services are suited to the following tradespeople, we welcome all customers to our local scrap metal yard. As well as electricians, we can also service:
Recycle Your Electrical Scrap with KAS
If you have plenty of electrical scrap metal lying around, why not recycle your electricals at our local scrap yard to turn your waste into profit?
Give us a call, email or visit our local scrap yard today. We are based in Atherton meaning we can also service the following areas: Astley, Preston, Leigh, Wigan, Tyldesley, Bolton, Worsley, Lancashire, Chorley, Westhoughton and Salford. Don’t forget to follow us on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter to keep up to date with the latest company updates and industry news.
