If you're looking to recycle scrap metal, it's important to be able to tell the different types of metals apart. This will help you get the best possible price for your scrap and ensure that it's recycled properly.


There are three main types of metals that are commonly recycled: steel, copper, and aluminum. Each type of metal has its own unique properties that can be used to identify it.

Once you've identified the type of metal you have, you can recycle it at a local scrap metal yard. Scrap metal yards will pay you for your scrap metal, and they will recycle it properly.


When you're recycling scrap metal, you may want to remove any nonmetallic pieces from it to make more money but you don't have to do this. Scrap yards will usually still accept the metal to be recycled but will pay less per pound to compensate for buying the weight of the nonmetallic pieces. For example, copper with insulation on it is worth less than bare copper.

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Recycling scrap metal is a great way to help the environment and to make some extra money. By following these tips, you can recycle your scrap metal properly and get the best possible price for it.

Selling scrap metal can be a great way to make some extra cash, but it's important to be safe when handling this material. Here are some tips to help you stay safe when selling scrap metal:

1. Wear protective gear. When handling scrap metal, it's important to wear protective gear, at least protective gloves. We recommend double-palm leather gloves, but the popular mechanic gloves provide a premium feel. When you work with tools and scrap, wear your eye protection or plan to adopt a parrot so it can go with the eyepatch. Protect you from cuts, scrapes, and other injuries. There are a lot of nasty germs you don't want in your bloodstream that lives in the dirt and scrap is usually dirty.

2. Be aware of your surroundings. When working with scrap metal, it's important to be aware of your surroundings. Pay attention to where you are walking and be careful not to trip over anything. Cables, loose sheets, and nails pointing upward have been the beginnings of many a trip to the ER.

3. Be careful with sharp objects. Scrap metal can often contain sharp objects such as nails, screws, and pieces of glass. You should have gloves on, but be careful when handling these objects and avoid cutting yourself. If it's too sharp to handle with gloves (think concertina wire or razor wire) then call the yard to see if they even accept it. We don't accept razor wire... Anymore.

4. Dispose of scrap metal properly. Once you have collected scrap metal, it's important to dispose of it properly. Do not dump it in a landfill or on the side of the road. Instead, take it to a scrap metal recycling facility 👷‍♂️. Not only do you avoid the dumping fee at the landfill, but you're going to get some cash in hand when you sell to a scrap yard. If you need a recommendation for a scrap yard, reach out to us and we'd love to tell you about Dothan's best scrap yard.

Selling scrap metal can be a great way to make some extra cash, but it's important to be safe when handling this material. By following these tips, you can help to protect yourself from injury.
Additional Safety Tips
In addition to the safety tips above, here are a few more things to keep in mind when selling scrap metal:

• Be aware of the law. In some areas (not Alabama), it is illegal to sell scrap metal without a license. Be sure to check with your local authorities to find out what the law is in your area. Some scrap metal is regulated and if you need to take metal that's not yours then you're on the hook for the replacement cost of the metal, not just what you sell it for, which easily becomes a felony.
• Be careful of scams. There are a number of scams out there that target scrap metal sellers. Be sure to do your research and only deal with reputable buyers. Can you see the weight when you sell? Did you agree on a price before they began unloading? Can you get your metal back if you change your mind before they pay you? Are they charging you a card fee or facility fee? Reputable places don't make shady deals.
• Be sure to get paid. Once you have sold your scrap metal, be sure to get paid. There are a number of ways to get paid, but we pay cash as often as we can. We are limited to $50 cash for copper, but you can get up to $500 for other metals. Everything above those limits has to be paid by check unless you are operating your own business that generates scrap.

By following these tips, you can help to ensure that your scrap metal selling experience is safe and profitable.

Let's say you have some scrap metal and you want to know what it is worth before going through the effort involved in hauling it to your friendly neighborhood scrap yard. When you call to get a price, you might get a typical response of "what kind of scrap do you have?" because most yards buy at least a dozen types of scrap metal grades. We buy over a dozen grades of aluminum alone, not to mention other metals, but we're here to help you grade what you have and make sure you have an accurate price before the metal hits our scales. It's in everyone's best interest if we're on the same page before you have your metal weighed. 

This article is the first in a series that looks at grading scrap metal. There are guidelines that all scrap yards follow, but the details will differ between some yards. Additionally, the guidelines change over time and what might be a great grade today might be subpar in the future. I intend to update these each year, so you always have accurate information. Everything covered here is how Emfinger Steel grades scrap metal and, while it might also be how other yards grade their scrap metal too, I guarantee the best results when you scrap with us.

The first thing you need to do to determine what kind of scrap you have is to check if it's magnetic. Iron is magnetic and is everywhere. Steel is magnetic since it's 97% iron, plus a few other alloys that are priced the same as steel. We'll talk about the exceptions later, but a magnet is going to be your first tool in determining what kind of scrap you have. If it's magnetic, keep reading. If it's nonmagnetic, stay tuned for more articles to see what to do next.

We refer to all the metals that contain enough iron in them to be magnetic as ferrous. This keeps them separated from all the other metals without iron, naturally called nonferrous. Keep reading to figure out which type of ferrous ​metal you have.

The top of the heap, in terms of price per pound, is prepared steel. This grade always brings the most because steel mills love how densely they can pack their furnaces with it. Prepared means that it's ready to go to the mill and your scrap yard doesn't have to do anything to it except ship it. Since we won't have any labor tied up in processing the material, we pay more for prepared steel than any other grade.

Prepared steel is small and heavy. It's at least 1/8" thick, no longer than 36" and no wider than 18". Exclusions: wire, cable, sealed containers, and steel with other metals attached. Even though nearly everything that you can attach to steel is worth more on its own, steel mills hate getting lead or copper mixed with their molten steel and we have to remove it before it ships.

Examples of prepared steel include car rims (without the tire or lead wheel weights), plow points, brake rotors, and mobile home frames cut to 36" lengths or shorter.

If your scrap could be prepared with some extra work, but it's not prepared for one of the reasons above, then it goes here. It still has to be 1/8"+ thick and wire and cable is always excluded (they get their own grade below). The most common reason scrap is unprepared is being oversized. If it's longer than 36" OR wider than 18" then it's unprepared. The second most common reason to be unprepared is that it has some other metal attached to it, like copper or lead. One wheel weight will make a rim unprepared. Any visible copper wires will make a mobile home frame unprepared. The third thing to look out for is sealed containers, usually sealed car parts like shocks and torque convertors. If you can't see inside of it then it's not prepared. 

If your scrap is less than 1/8" thick, there's nothing that can be done to make it prepared -- but don't worry -- this is our most common grade of scrap so it's also the easiest to find. There are certain things you can remove from an automobile to boost its value but, whole or just a shell, it will end up in this category. Many yards are strict about appliances, so if you're not scrapping with us then call before you mess with them to make sure your scrap yard accepts them, and if so, if it requires any special attention. 

Examples include automobiles, tin, and appliances (even fridges without the compressor).

The lowest of the scrap metal grades is fence, wire, and cable, for exactly the opposite reasons steel mills hate it: it takes up a lot of room and is a mess to move. Even though some material in this category is 1/8"+ thick, all wire is always excluded from the heavier grades. 

Examples: chain-link fence, barbed wire, and twisted cable.

There is one grade that rises above all the ones listed here, but it's so rare that I've put it last: prepared plate & structural (P&S). If you're lucky enough to find material that makes good P&S, be sure to be safe when handling it. The dimensions are like prepared steel, except in addition to being 36" x 18" x18" or smaller, it also must be 1/4"+ thick and only plate or structural shapes are allowed (channel, angle, and tubing, but not rebar). As with regular prepared, wire is excluded. Be careful what's welded onto your scrap, as anything else other than plate or structural shapes will downgrade it. 

Learning how to tell what kind of scrap you have is an ongoing process (like recycling itself!) and we're seeing new things all the time. If you want to get better at determining what kind of scrap you have, you're going to have an easier time if you talk with others who have seen a lot of scrap and that's why we're here to help. We've tried to make ourselves as accessible as possible: contact us through this website, through Facebook messenger, or Google messages. You can even send pictures of your scrap to us and we'll try to help you figure out what you have before it hits the scales.

To learn even more about how to tell what kind of scrap you have, come back often, and watch this space for more articles.