April 2022

Put simply, scrap metal near me is the combination of waste metal, metallic material, and any product that contains metal that is capable of being recycled from previous consumption or product manufacturing. Whether it’s vehicle parts, building supplies, or surplus project materials, scrap has tremendous monetary value; so much so that the UK’s metal recycling industry is now worth upwards of £5.6 billion. Scrap metal can originate from commercial and residential use. Whether it’s a ferrous or non-ferrous metal, the processing of this into vital secondary raw material for the smelting of brand new metals is key.
These scrap metals have a high market value, with their ability to be re-used again and again. For instance, electricians might have wires and electrical equipment, plumbers are likely to have used copper piping and brass fixtures and even construction firms will have beam upon a beam of steel that could be quite literally given a new lease of life. But all too regularly these are tossed into the dump due to a lack of knowledge and sources for metal recycling.

Determining non-ferrous and ferrous metals

Before recycling any metals, the first important step is to determine whether a metal is ferrous or non-ferrous. This is a very straightforward process and requires only a common magnet. If the magnet sticks to your metal, it is a ferrous metal. If the metal does not stick to your magnet it is a non-ferrous metal.
The most valuable scrap metals for recycling are non-ferrous; the most common of which are those that do not contain iron and are more resistant to corrosion, including copper, brass, aluminum, zinc, magnesium, tin, lead, and nickel.

Ferrous metals are less valuable to metal recyclers but they will still recoup some value if you have enough of them this includes metals such as steel and iron. Steel can be found in so many places; from cars to chairs, cabinets, shelving, and more. The term “ferrous” is derived from the Latin word for iron and refers to both iron and steel. Iron is the second most commonly occurring metal in our planet’s crust. Its natural magnetism is what gives the Earth a magnetic field. Because nearly all ferrous metals are magnetic, metal scrap yards often use massive electromagnets mounted on excavators to load and unload ferrous scrap from trucks and move it around the yard.

Non-ferrous metals don’t lose their chemical properties during the recycling process, they can be endlessly recycled. There’s a long list of non-ferrous metals, but some of the most common base metals include aluminum, copper, nickel, lead, tin, and zinc. Precious metals like gold and silver also belong to the non-ferrous category. Each of these has a wide variety of uses.

The most valuable non-ferrous metal scrap near me

Brass – Easily found on door handles, light fittings, keys, and plumbing fixtures, brass is one of the most common yet in-demand non-ferrous metals. Often yellow with a hint of red, brass is a combination of zinc and copper that can be extremely dense, increasing its value in pure weight alone.

aluminum- Yet another metal that’s often found in so many places around a regular home, aluminum can be recycled and reused in an alternative guise within a matter of a month. Empty drinks and food cans are the most common places to find this metal, but areas such as guttering, siding, internal and external door, and window frames are also good places to look. Aluminum is such an attractive metal for recyclers as the process saves 80 percent of the energy that was used to make it in the first place.

Copper – Another common metal regularly found in the structure of homes across the country, copper is also very valuable to recycle and very much in-demand at scrap yards. If the copper itself is in good condition it will be reddish, but more worn copper fixtures and fittings will appear dark brown and sometimes green in places. It’s a versatile metal which means it is regularly used as plumbing pipes, as a roofing material for guttering, with common electric wires, and even inside air conditioning units.

Argus provides comprehensive and detailed coverage of the global ferrous and non-ferrous scrap markets, with over 1,000 price assessments produced by its global network of highly skilled market experts. Argus is particularly strong in creating methodologies appropriate to the trading dynamics of a specific spot market and providing a mechanism for valuing scrap alloys. Through its extensive and unique price assessments of specialty metal scrap prices materials or by using the Alloy Calculator, Argus provides market participants with an independent contract settlement mechanism for scrap recovery for even the most highly engineered materials.

Ferrous coverage

Argus offers a comprehensive regional view of the most active spot markets for ferrous scrap in regions around the world. Each price is available for direct comparison in multiple markets, with currency and unit of measurement conversions available to standardize charts and facilitate the detection of favorable trade conditions. Distinguished by either fob dealer or delivered to consumer incoterms, all prices are aligned with common industry specifications for that region. Explore the full list of scrap prices and specifications, including the length of history available on the Argus Metals platform for the grades, assessed.

• Bundles
• Busheling
• Foundry/specialty
• Heavy melt
• Machine shop turnings
• Plate and structural
• Shredded scrap
• Tool steel
• Stainless and superalloys
• Alloy Calculator, where the current value of any alloy can be calculated by an intrinsic value formula in the absence of sufficient liquidity to produce a proper assessment

Argus has also launched a new Argus US Ferrous Scrap service to further enhance our coverage of global scrap markets. This new service provides a concise and focused view of regional settlement prices in the US – including Argus’ new Southern US busheling and shredded weighted average assessments – to support contract settlement and indexation.

Non-ferrous coverage

Argus provides the full range of non-ferrous coverage from scrap price assessments on UBC, Zorba, taint, tweak and twitch products, as well as exchange data (30-minute delay LME and Comex prices are standard with Argus products) and global base metal premiums. Explore the full list of scrap prices in each non-ferrous category and visit the exchange data page to understand the unique value that Argus brings through its analysis of global exchange prices.

• Aluminum prices
• Aluminum alloy prices
• Brass/bronze prices
• Copper prices
• Lead prices
• Nickel prices
• Stainless and alloys
• Zinc prices
• Alloy Calculator, including over 200 predefined common alloys
• Exchange data

Highlights of North American coverage

metal scrap prices

Argus’ coverage of the North American scrap market focuses on spot market trading patterns within the most active regional domestic trading locations, as well as on export transactions. The full value chain is represented in the suite of Argus scrap assessments, from collecting at the yard to deliver to consumer prices:

• 8 containerized scrap price locations
• 14 consumer buying scrap price locations, including the US and Canada
• 8 export yard scrap buying price locations
• 4 dealer selling scrap price locations
• 139 regional US and Canada non-ferrous scrap yard collection prices
• Prime and obsolete grades of scrap price assessments
• Mill and foundry grades of scrap price assessments: Titanium, stainless, and scrap alloy pricing
• NEW: Southern US busheling and shredded weighted average assessments

Highlights of European coverage metal scrap prices

Argus Metal Prices provides context and intelligence to European domestic scrap markets to help steel mills, scrap suppliers, buyers, and industrial manufacturers gain a greater understanding of the markets in which they operate. Argus produces over 50 European scrap prices assessments, including:

• German domestic ferrous scrap prices
• Spanish domestic ferrous scrap prices
• Spanish imported scrap prices
• UK domestic ferrous scrap prices
• Russia, including St Petersburg, dockside price

Highlights of Asian coverage

Argus carries Asian scrap prices from a variety of mature scrap-generating markets and provides insightful analysis of deep-sea trades and short-sea trades. Argus covers the full scope of steel mill purchasing activity for electric arc furnace-based production, including stainless and engineered steels, in recognition of the global nature of many steel feedstock’s purchased by mills across the world.

• Taiwan imported ferrous scrap prices
• India imported ferrous scrap prices
• Pakistan imported ferrous scrap prices
• Bangladesh imported ferrous scrap prices
• China, South Korea, Taiwan, Japan imported aluminum scrap prices
• China, South Korea, Taiwan, Japan imported copper scrap prices

Argus carries a variety of global scrap prices in each of its three core products — Argus Metal Prices, Argus Ferrous Markets, and Argus Metals International. To discover the combination of products that will provide the most complete coverage to serve your company’s needs, contact us for a consultation. Information about Argus subscription options can be found here.

Metal Recycling

Metal recycling, Metals are versatile materials that have been used to make everyday materials for centuries. Metals are valuable non-renewable natural resources. They are strong, durable, malleable, and conductive, and they serve as essential raw materials for a wide variety of uses, such as in the production of tools, construction, and electronics Steel, aluminum, and copper are some of the most widely used metals but recent technologies such as smartphones have created a market for rare earth metals, which as the name suggests are not only rare but also expensive. Given that metals are not a renewable resource, recycling has emerged as a very efficient way to retrieve metal from existing products when they reach the end of their lifecycles and recycle into new products.

How does metal recycling work?

Metals are among the best performing materials when it comes to recycling. Unlike some other types of recyclable materials, such as paper and plastics that tend to degrade their value over time and have a limit to how many times they can be recycled, metals can be recycled almost indefinitely and never lose their structural value. Aluminum, steel, gold, silver, brass, and copper are just some of the metals that can be and are recycled. In fact, steel is the most recycled material on the planet; in 2014, more than 86 percent of steel was recycled. Metal recycling is a booming industry; in the UK alone, it has reached an estimated £5.6 billion employing around 8,000 people. There are also clear environmental benefits to metal recycling, specifically increased resource use but also carbon dioxide emission savings. For example, recycling one ton of steel saves 80 percent of the carbon dioxide emissions produced when making steel

The process of metal recycling: What exactly happens?

With the majority of our everyday objects containing some sort of metal, it is worth knowing a bit more about what happens when they leave our doorstep for recycling.

Step 1: Collection

The first thing in metal recycling is, as with every recycling process, the need to ensure that the metal gets to our recycling bin. In many cases, articles containing metals are complex or large objects such as electronic and electrical equipment, white goods, or cars. To help collection of these objects, producers, a bitcoin tumbler and retailers often set up specialized collection systems where consumers can have larger items picked up or where central locations where they can be dropped off.

Step 2: Sorting

Once collected, the metals are sorted to make sure that those that can be recycled undergo that process and to also ensure that only items of high quality enter the recycling process. This will ensure a high-quality recycled product.
The sorted metal is then processed and essentially squeezed together so it occupies less space when it goes on the conveyor belt, on its way to being recycled!

Step 3: Shredding

The bails of metal are then shredded and broken into tiny pieces. This is the most important preparatory step as the metal will need to be melted. In smaller pieces, the metal can be melted in lower temperatures.

Step 4: Melting

Once in tiny pieces, the metal is placed in a large furnace which is optimized for melting the specific metal to be recycled. Depending on the metal the recycling process can take a few minutes or several hours.

Step 5: Purification

The next step is the purification process which ensures that the final product is of any impurities and of the highest quality. There are several methods to do this, but common ones are electrolysis or using powerful magnetic systems that separate the metal.

Step 6: Cooling and solidification

The melted metal is then carried out to a cooling chamber so it can solidify. The metal can solidify in different shapes depending on how the metal will be used. Usually, steel solidifies in steel blocks whereas aluminum is cooled into sheets. Once the metal has cooled, it is ready to be sent off to   manufacturing site where it can be integrated into a brand-new product. And that’s the metal’s lifecycle!