Collect These Household Items For Scrap Metal

new recycling scrap

Now that scrap metal has become more popular and a vital part of people’s income, many scrap yards are adapting. With several new electronics constantly coming out and more consumers buying them, scrap yards have begun to take new materials to keep up with the times. With new items that are more common and readily being replaced, scrap yards are accepting a lot more items than they were 10-15 years ago.

When you are looking to make some room in your basement or some extra money, you can collect these household items for scrap metal. Many of these items weren’t accepted years ago by scrap yard, mainly due to the lack of understanding on how to recycle some of the items and metals involved. But as technology and resources have improved over the years, yards have easier access to the proper places to recycles these items.

Some Scrap Yards Accepts These Materials

scrap cell phonesCell Phones

There are many companies online that offer to buy your cell phones in bulk, but many scrap yards are beginning to take them as well. Start a collection of old cell phones among friends, family, and co-workers and you can be looking at some real cash. Keep in mind most scrap yards will not be able to take the batteries from the cell phones, due to them being lithium. So just be sure to take the batteries out before bringing them in!

Holiday Lights

Stringing up the holiday lights can be a pain in the “you know what” but you can get your revenge on the broken ones by scrapping them. If your scrap yard takes Insulated Copper Wire, they will most likely be able to take holiday lights as well. You don’t need to worry about taking the bulbs out, you can usually bring them in as is.

copper yokes

Copper Yokes

While some scrap yards may be able to take complete TV units, if your scrap yard doesn’t you are in luck, you can make money by taking apart the TV. In the back of the tube of the TV will be something called a copper yoke. It will look like a round cone that has copper wires wrapped all around it. If you have the ability to take that off the back of the TV you will be able to scrap that at most scrap yards.

scrap metal laptopLaptops

Scrap yards don’t take computer monitors as often as they used to, but you are in luck. With many more people using laptops, many scrap yards accept them at their scales, as well as desktop computer towers. If you want to spend the time taking them apart for Hard Drives, circuit boards, etc. that can make you more money. But if you only have a few it may be worth more to just bring the whole unit.

Whole AC Units

This may not be a new scrap material accepted, but some people may not know that you aren’t required to take an AC unit apart for scrap. If you have only a few units you can bring them as is to the scrap yards. While you may not get paid as much if you were to take them apart instead, you can still make a good chunk of change bringing them in.
Don’t forget to use the iScrap App to find scrap yards near you that may take the materials listed above, report scrap prices, and also connect with the scrapping community on our new iScrap Metal Forum. You can also check out some videos and help instructions on how to take some of these items apart on our YouTube channel.

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