Collecting Up All Those Pieces Of Scrap Cable - What can I expect to get?

[wildgoose]

This year I've decided to collect up all my pieces of scrap & unwanted cable. At the end of the year, I intend to weigh it in for a Christmas drink/s bonus. Most of the cable is either single core earth cable, or various pieces of flat domestic cable. With the flat stuff, I'm removing the grey outer covering but not the insulation around the cores. It all gets put into a large wheelie bin which is already over half full and getting heavy.
Questions please?

• Will the Scappie only give me a low price because many of the pieces of wire has the covering still on it?

• Anybody any ideas what the copper scrap value is likely to be eg/kg ?

 

[Strima]

Last time I looked it was around £4.90 for bright copper, insulation removed. Probably around 1/3 that price for insulated.

I bought a crappy stripping tool of ebay for a few quid and it does the job on small amounts, a few beers and music on in the garage and off to my own little world pulling wires through.

 

[Marvo]

We collected about 230Kg of copper scrap last year, it was about 50/50 cabling and pipework. It's a pain stripping it and separating the dull from the bright but it was a worthwhile exercise and paid for the company Christmas braai.

 

[Paul.M]

Here you go, 2nd table down. Full price listings for all metals.

Metals — letsrecycle.com - recycling and waste management news and information

 

[durhamspark]

I wouldn't take it in too near xmas cos the price usually drops.

 

[nickblake]

i throw all my scrap into a builders sack when its full i take it in last time i got £165 that wasnt clean either if it was clean it would have been alot more im sure , but remember guys they are having a crack down on watse transfer so make sure you have your waste transfer licencee or it may cost you

 

[Strima]

but remember guys they are having a crack down on watse transfer so make sure you have your waste transfer licencee or it may cost you

It's my own waste officer!!! :lol:

 

[electromonkey]

My last weigh in was 750 odd quid. In Cardiff the scrappy buy in price was between £600-£700 per ton. 15 miles out of Cardiff and the prices doubled so it pays to shop around. I had about 25 rubble sacks of scrap pvc copper cable for that weigh in. FYI prices tend to drop around Christmas time as there is always a large influx of scrap for the reasons you want to weigh yours in.

 

[jumpin jax]

I wouldn't take it in too near xmas cos the price usually drops.

This is true, watch the price in the summer and take it in at its peak, everyone takes their scap in at christmas and hence due to excess supply compared to demand the price drops.

Electromonkey beat me to it.:shame:

 

[Rockingit]

Anyone got any suggestions as to what to do with a load of old lead cable? Leave it as is, or try to strip it?

 

[Knobhead]

What size is the lead cable?

 

[Rockingit]

it's just domestic sized imperial, twin conductor, various diameters. I stripped it out of an old rectory ages ago and had forgotten it was buried in a scrap bag until the other day when I had a clean up. Probably 20-25kg as it is at the moment.

 

[JD6400]

Hi Wildgoose , it does depend on the amount that you have but always phone around for the best price and make a point of mentioning the fact that you phoned earlier when you drop it off , i have been quoted literally ££££s per ton difference in the price from scrappys not more than 5 miles apart !
Also the one i tend to use pays the same for singles as he does t+e , so you may want to leave that grey sheath on to bulk up the weight , but best to check this is the case with your local scrappy first ?
And it never ceases to amaze me how much more the end result is worth if stripped back to bright , but as a general rule anything under 4mm gets left unstripped as it takes to long .
Also , again depending on the amount you have your scrappy may let you have some 1 ton dumpy bags so you can sort the swa in one , singles and household in another and bright in to another . this makes weighing it in a hell of a lot easier as they can just drag / lift it off your van / trailer and lift it on the scales with a fork lift .
Also it may be worth doing a deal with friends / family to strip it for you , i get my mum to strip ours a little bit each night while she is watching the soaps she strips it over a blanket in the kitchen --- dining room , that way we split the profit a third to me a third to her and a third to my other director .
As i say it depends on how much you have as to how you process it , but it is definitely worth it !

 

[malcolmsanford]

Sorry to jump into this thread, but not having taken any "Bluey" to a scrappy for a few years, how does it work now that Cameron Cronies have stopped the Casc for scrap method?

 

[Mark_Burgess]

Still pretty much the same really, took some yesterday, only difference is they took the details off my driving licence when I weighed it and when I went to collect the cash. There is also a lot of cameras so they can get a clear image of yourself. You must have some form of photo ID the signs said, and if you produce a passport it must be accompanied with a utility bill. NO ID, NO sale.

 

[malcolmsanford]

Thank Mark, so it is still cash then ? I thought that they wanted to stop the cash side of the transaction?

 

[Mark_Burgess]

Still cash for now, I think it is to stop the no fixed abode types!!
I really hope it does go to bank transfer, hopefully that will reduce some theft.

 

[malcolmsanford]

Yes Mark I thought that was the whole idea of making it non cash, to try and cut down on theft of cable, and other metals

 

[mickys86]

We'll be getting taxed on it soon enough.....

 

[Guest111]

Try ,and take it to a big scrappy rather than a small local one,one lad got paid x amount at the local one and next time he went to emr in manchester,guy said the other yard bring their scrap here so thats why they pay you less as they want their profit on it.

 

[Mark_Burgess]

EMR is who I use, 3 bags of "household" and about 12KG of bright and I got £127.

 

[topquark]

Cheers Mark, Might give them a try as the garage is filling up

 

[Mark_Burgess]

Cheers Mark, Might give them a try as the garage is filling up

Have you been there before?
It is directly behind hombase currys etc. As you drive up towards it, when there you need to turn to the left hand site then immediately right.

 

[topquark]

Have you been there before?
It is directly behind hombase currys etc. As you drive up towards it, when there you need to turn to the left hand site then immediately right.

No, I've used the one over at Bishops Waltham before (HMS?).

Edit: H&S (I was close ).