Getting into the metal scrapping industry can be lucrative; the more scrapmetal you can salvage at one time, the more money you can make since metal ispurchased by weight.
While many people make side money scrapping vehicles, you can salvage metalfrom broken or dated appliances to make a decent profit. The key lies inknowing what appliances are worth seeking, how to get the most metal out ofyour collection, and where you can find new inventory to dissect for scrap.
Use this guide to make you more skilled at scrapping appliances. Researchscrapyards in your area to see which ones will offer you scrap pickup servicesor a container to store your metal in so you can manage your scrappingmaterials better and make money more efficiently.
Appliances Worth Scrapping
When seeking appliances for scrap metal purposes, look for larger pieces ofequipment, such as dishwashers, washing machines, dryers, and old stoves. Thesepieces of equipment are easier to take apart and sort your metal panels out of,which gives you more metal to scrap with less effort.
Appliances are commonly made of lightweight yet durable metal like aluminumor thin sheets of steel; separate your metals before loading them for the scrapyard since every metal carries itsown value. Aluminum, being nonferrous in design, is more valuable per poundthan ferrous metals are.
Refrigerators and any appliances that use plumbing to operate - like an oldrusted water heater - are especially worthy of collecting for scrap. This isbecause these appliances often have copper components; copper wire and plumbingscrap is valuable and gives you great profit. Check all appliances for a coppercoil during the dismantling process to make extra money.
Appliances Not Worth Scrapping
While you can scrap basically any appliance that is made of metal, sometimesthe scrap removal and separation process is not worth as much of your time andeffort as others. For example, dismantling a microwave or garbage disposal unitmay yield some metal scrap but take hours to do.
Avoid collecting appliances that have a high volume of plastic or otherhuman-made components that aren't metal, such as mixers, microwaves, toasters,toaster ovens, and other smaller appliances. Unless these pieces of equipmentcontain metal coils or tubing - like a window air conditioning unit might -stickto collecting larger units.
If you have smaller appliances ready for scrap, consider leaving these unitsintact and take a smaller profit. If you're willing to put the time intoseparating metals, you can double your earnings, but put your opportunity costinto consideration before moving forward.
Appliances: Where to Find Them
Luckily, the older an appliance is, the more copper the unit usually has.This means greater profits for you since most unwanted appliances are older.
Another plus is that old appliances often require special payment to garbagepickup services for removal, which means people either have to haul theirunwanted units away themselves or pay someone to remove them.
This is where you come in: by advertising your free appliance removalservice in your local area, you can quickly acquire a large amount of valuablescrap metal without paying for the equipment.
You may even see free broken appliances listed in the local paper or inonline forums; scour your outlets daily to gather more appliances for yourcollection.
Once you have enough scrap to make a decent profit, let our team at BruceMetal & Salvage turn your metal into money. We have industrial containersfor our serious scrapping customers to use; call us or visit our scrapyard today.
