How to tell what kind of scrap you have (Updated for 2023)

What kind of scrap do you have?

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 test

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.

Prepared steel

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.

Heavy unprepared

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. 

Light steel and autos

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).

Fence, wire, and cable

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.

BONUS: P&S

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. 

Keep learning

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.