What is scrap metal recycling?
Unless you were born in the 80s, you might be thinking scrap metal is some kind of heavy rock music. There’s a whole lot of metal with both but they’re a completely different ballgame.
Recycling
Scrap metal recycling is exactly what it sounds like. Waste or unused metal, or any object that contains metal, is turned into new materials to be used again. It’s any kind of metal from steel, copper, aluminium, zinc, nickel, lead and titanium. The metal is melted down to be reused.
Metal in its raw form comes from the earth. It’s super expensive to mine or extract from the ground and process into usable metal.
It’s cheaper for manufacturers to buy recycled metals for their products than buying new.
Get it recycled
Collect your unwanted metals. Scrap metal is big business in Australia, currently worth over $2 billion.
It could be building supplies or materials, vehicle parts or household items.
Are you a tradie?
Tradies are on a winning streak when it comes to recycling metal. Construction firms have plenty of steel off-cuts. Plumbers use fixtures and fittings made from a range of metals, some still use copper piping. And electricians use wires and electrical equipment.
There’s so much scrap lying around. Find the leftovers and waste products that could be given a new lease of life and put a few extra dollars in your pocket.
All too often these items are tossed into the dump. What a waste of money… never mind ignoring the environment.
Ferrous and non-ferrous metals
All metals are recyclable.
Non-ferrous will give you more money.
It’s super easy to know if a metal is ferrous or non-ferrous.
All you need is a magnet.
If the magnet sticks to your metal, it’s a ferrous metal.
If the magnet does not stick to your metal, it’s a non-ferrous metal.
The most common non-ferrous metals are the ones that don’t contain iron and are less likely to corrode:
Tin
Zinc
Lead
Brass
Nickel
Copper
Aluminium
Magnesium
Ferrous metals include:
Steel
Iron
They’re less valuable but you can still make some money if you have enough scrap. Steel is easily found from old cars to chairs, shelving, cabinets, and more.
Find out more about ferrous and non-ferrous metals here. (link to the article on ferrous/non-ferrous)
Cash for scrap
You’ll definitely make some money from scrap metal. But it won’t be cold, hard cash.
New laws came into effect on 30 May 2018 that banned scrap metal dealers in Victoria from paying or receiving cash when buying or selling scrap metal.
Don’t panic, you’ll get your money within minutes. It’ll come through an electronic funds transfer straight into your bank account.
Non-transferable cheques can be used but not many people choose this way.
Why Chilcorp?
We’re one of the best scrap metal yards around.
We do everything by the book.
We use the best technology to process ferrous and non-ferrous metals. That means we guarantee total accuracy in our weighing and pricing.
The price we pay is the price you deserve.
If you’d like to know more about what we do, take a look at our full range of metal recycling services.