What Industrial Metal Items You Can Recycle

Industrial scrap metal pickup services can clear away so much metal, and so many kinds of metal, you will wish you had hired them to do the job before. Before you get started on this long-term partnership, you may be asking just what you can recycle, and what the scrap metal company will take. You will need several dumpster-style bins to sort everything, but the service will take all of the following. 

Aluminum

Aluminum is fairly common, but from time to time the price paid per pound of aluminum can fluctuate upwards very quickly. A lot of industrial and manufacturing plants use aluminum in products, and you can recycle all of the scrap pieces cut away from products your plant makes. Keep all aluminum separate from steel so that the weight of the aluminum is accurate for payment and processing.

Brass

Brass is great for pipes in industrial settings because it does not conduct electricity very well and it will not rust or corrode like other metals. Many valves in pipelines in factories are brass, not because brass is pretty, but because brass will hold its own against most chemical agents. If your plant had to replace any brass valves or other brass components recently, recycle the brass through the salvage company. 

Cast Iron Pipe

Old buildings have cast iron pipes. Sometimes those pipes just give way. There is nothing left to do except remove and replace those pipes with modern pipes. Luckily for you, it does not matter what shape the cast iron pipes are in because the scrap metal yard will take those. Anything cast iron, however, is going to need its own bin. 

Copper

Copper pipe, copper tubing, copper valves; you name it, copper is hot. Salvage yards want it because copper is used for everything from minting pennies to creating electrical wire. As much copper as you can gather up and separate from other metals is what the salvage yard will definitely take. 

Gold

You may not think you have any gold in your plant, but it may surprise you to know that you probably do. Gold is used in making keyboards for computers and electronic equipment. That CNC machine in the east wing? Its keyboard probably has minute amounts of gold in it. If your company outright uses gold for anything (e.g., gold plating), then you have more gold scrap available to recycle. Gold brings a very pretty penny with recycling companies, too.