How to Sell Scrap Metal in the UK: A Beginner's Guide

If you've got a pile of old copper pipe in the garage, a broken boiler taking up space, or a heap of aluminium cans you've been meaning to do something with, there's money in it. Not a fortune, usually, but enough to make the trip to the yard worth your time. And at current UK prices, even a modest bag of mixed scrap can be worth £20–£50. A decent boiler can be £60 or more. An old car, several hundred.

The catch is that most people selling scrap for the first time get less than they should. Either because they don't know what they've got, or they don't sort it properly, or they take it to the wrong place. This guide fixes all of that.

Here's everything you need to know to sell scrap metal in the UK, what's worth money, where to take it, what ID you need, and how to avoid getting fleeced on your first visit.

What counts as "scrap metal"?

Broadly, anything made of metal that's reached the end of its useful life. In practice, there are two big categories that matter:

Ferrous metal, anything with iron in it. Steel, cast iron, old appliances, car parts, garden tools, radiators (the white steel ones), filing cabinets. A fridge magnet sticks to it. Ferrous is low-value per kilo but you're usually selling it by the bootload or the skipload, so it adds up.

Non-ferrous metal, everything else. Copper, brass, aluminium, lead, stainless steel, zinc. A magnet doesn't stick. Non-ferrous is where the real money is. A single kilo of clean copper pipe is worth more than a hundred kilos of scrap steel.

If you're not sure which category something is, do the fridge magnet test. It's the single most useful 30 seconds you can spend before a trip to the yard.

The things most worth selling

Here's a rough hierarchy of what earns you the most, from "worth the boot space" all the way up to "drop everything and take it in today":

High value (clean copper, brass, lead): - Copper pipes and plumbing fittings - Electrical cable (especially thick mains cable) - Brass taps, valves, and fittings - Lead flashing and lead pipe - Old copper hot water cylinders

Medium value (aluminium, stainless, mixed non-ferrous): - Aluminium window frames, guttering, and ladders - Stainless steel sinks and kitchen equipment - Aluminium wheels (without the tyres on) - Cast aluminium cookware

Lower value but usually worth taking (ferrous): - Old appliances, washing machines, tumble dryers, fridges (note: fridges need special handling because of the gas) - Boilers and radiators - Car batteries (sold separately, worth £5–£15 each) - Garden tools, bikes, lawnmowers - Car bodies and engines

Not worth your time (in most cases): - Small amounts of steel (a few screws, a broken kettle) - Items that are mostly plastic with a bit of metal inside - Things with asbestos attached (night storage heaters, these are a specialist disposal job, not a scrap yard job)

For a full breakdown of what each of these is actually worth, see our plain-English price guide.

Where to sell it

You've got three real options:

1. A local scrap metal yard. This is what most people should do. Search "scrap metal yard near me" and you'll find several within driving distance almost anywhere in the UK. Yards weigh your scrap, grade it, and pay you on the spot (well, by bank transfer; more on that below). They're the highest-paying option for most people most of the time.

2. A scrap metal collector. These are mobile operators who come to you, usually for larger items like appliances, boilers, or full house clearances. Convenient but they pay less than yards because they're paying for their own fuel and time. Useful if you can't transport the scrap yourself.

3. Council recycling centres (the tip). Councils will take metal for free but they don't pay you for it. Only use this option if you genuinely can't be bothered to drive to a yard, or if the scrap is low-value enough that a yard wouldn't really want it either.

What to avoid: Anyone offering to take scrap "for cash, no questions asked." It's been illegal to pay cash for scrap metal in the UK since 2013 (we'll get to why in a moment). If someone offers you cash, they're either breaking the law or running a stolen-metal operation. Walk away.

Will they pay me in cash?

No, and if they try to, something's wrong.

Under the Scrap Metal Dealers Act 2013, all licensed scrap yards in England and Wales must pay by bank transfer or crossed cheque. Cash payments for scrap metal are illegal. This law was brought in to clamp down on metal theft, which was a huge problem in the late 2000s, particularly copper cable theft from railways and church roofs.

So when you go to a yard, bring your debit card details or a bank account sort code and account number. Some yards have card readers and can transfer straight to you at the desk. Others will ask you to fill in a form and send the money to your account within a few days.

Scotland and Northern Ireland have slightly different rules but the principle is the same, licensed dealers, no cash, traceable payments.

Do I need ID?

Yes. Every time. No exceptions.

When you sell scrap metal at a licensed UK yard, you need to bring photographic ID (passport, driving licence) and proof of address from the last three months (utility bill, bank statement, council tax letter). The yard is legally required to take a copy and keep it on file.

This isn't the yard being nosy, it's the law. Selling scrap without ID, or buying scrap without checking ID, is a criminal offence under the Scrap Metal Dealers Act 2013. A yard that doesn't ask for ID isn't doing you a favour; it's operating illegally, and you shouldn't be doing business there.

If you turn up without ID, you'll be turned away. Save yourself the trip.

How to get the best price: sorting and preparation

This is where most beginners leave money on the table. Yards grade scrap by purity, and they pay a premium for clean, sorted material because it saves them the work of processing it themselves.

Five minutes of sorting at home can mean the difference between "bag of mixed scrap" prices and "clean grade" prices, sometimes 20% or more on the same weight of metal.

Separate ferrous from non-ferrous. Magnet test everything. Put the magnetic stuff in one pile and the non-magnetic stuff in another.

Separate metals from each other where you can. Copper should be in its own bag. Brass in another. Aluminium in another. Don't just chuck it all in together.

Clean copper vs. mixed copper. Clean copper pipe with no solder, no paint, and no fittings attached is the top grade, called "bright copper" or "Grade 1." As soon as it has fittings, solder, or paint on it, it drops a grade and the price with it. If you've got the patience, cutting off the fittings is often worth it.

Strip cable (or don't). Copper cable is worth more stripped of its plastic sheathing, but stripping it by hand is slow work. As a rule of thumb, it's only worth stripping thick mains cable or armoured cable, thin house wiring takes so long to strip that the time isn't worth the extra pence per kilo.

Remove non-metal parts. Take the tyres off an alloy wheel. Drain the oil out of an engine. Pull the plastic handles off a steel saucepan. Yards will still take things with bits of non-metal attached but they'll pay less for the extra contamination.

What will I actually get paid?

Scrap prices move daily with the global metals market (the London Metal Exchange sets the benchmark), but as a rough guide at the time of writing:

• Bright copper wire: around [INSERT CURRENT PRICE]/tonne, so £7–£8 per kg
• Heavy copper (pipes, cylinders): around [INSERT CURRENT PRICE]/tonne
• Brass: around [INSERT CURRENT PRICE]/tonne
• Aluminium: around [INSERT CURRENT PRICE]/tonne, so roughly £1/kg
• Lead: around [INSERT CURRENT PRICE]/tonne
• Mixed steel scrap: around [INSERT CURRENT PRICE]/tonne, £0.15–£0.25/kg
• Old appliances (as "white goods"): often a fixed £5–£15 each rather than weighed

For live, up-to-date UK scrap prices that reflect today's market, check our price page, updated daily.

A reality check on weights: a bag of copper pipe from a bathroom refit might weigh 5–10kg, so £35–£80. A steel washing machine is around 60–70kg of metal, so maybe £10–£15. A cast iron bath is 60–100kg and worth about the same. Lead flashing offcuts from a small roofing job can easily be 20kg, so £30 or more. It adds up faster than people think.

The scrap yard visit: what to expect

First-timers often find the whole thing intimidating. It isn't. Here's what actually happens:

1. Drive onto the weighbridge (the big flat scale in the ground) if you've got a full vehicle. For small amounts, you'll skip this and go straight to the counter.
2. Unload your scrap into the sorting areas, usually marked for different metals.
3. Yard staff grade it, they'll look at what you've brought and tell you what grade it falls under.
4. The weigh ticket is produced with weights, grades, and the price.
5. You hand over ID for them to copy if it's your first visit, or if it's been a while.
6. You get paid by bank transfer, either on the spot via card reader or processed later.

Quick tips: - Don't be afraid to ask what grade they're putting things in. A polite "is this going as bright copper or braziery?" shows you know what you're doing, and yards treat informed sellers better. - Go in the morning if you can. Yards are busiest on weekends and on payday Friday afternoons. Midweek mornings are calm. - Check the price before unloading if you've brought a lot. Yard prices can differ by 5–10% from one yard to the next on the same day.

Your first sale, step by step

If you're about to do your first yard visit, here's the short version:

1. Do the magnet test on everything and separate ferrous from non-ferrous.
2. Sort non-ferrous by metal type, copper, brass, aluminium, lead in different bags.
3. Check today's prices on our price page so you know roughly what to expect.
4. Find your nearest licensed yard, check they're properly licensed (every council keeps a public register).
5. Bring photo ID and proof of address.
6. Bring your bank details for the transfer.
7. Take the scrap, unload, weigh, get paid.

That's it. The whole thing usually takes 20 minutes once you're there.

One last thing: know when it's stolen

We'd be doing you a disservice not to mention this. If someone offers you metal to "get rid of" for them, or you find metal dumped somewhere and think about cashing it in, don't. Scrap yards record every transaction with your ID attached to it. If what you're selling was stolen from a construction site, a church roof, or the railways, it will be traced back to you. Metal theft carries real prison sentences. Not worth it.

If the metal is genuinely yours, from your house, your garden, your workshop, a job you did, a car you own, you're fine. If you're unsure, don't take the risk.

Ready to check what your scrap is worth? Check today's UK scrap metal prices →

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