The Best Places to Find Scrap Aluminium & Copper

Recycle Heating and Cooling Units

Many homes enjoy the luxury of centralized heating and air conditioning. The units that provide the hot and cold air eventually wear out and need to be replaced, and the companies that replace them have access to a large amount of recyclable material.

The entire outer body of the unit is an aluminum housing with copper pipes circulating through it. After removing all items that are not aluminum and copper, this shell can be recycled as a single piece. There is other copper piping running throughout the unit, which can be removed, along with an electrical wiring harness. Note that the electrical wiring will be worth more if you take the time to remove the insulation.

Any home that has natural gas will have an abundance of copper pipe. Some water is also channeled through copper pipes in a home. Eventually these pipes will develop leaks and need to be either repaired or replaced. Sometimes large sections of pipe are replaced by plumbers, creating a significant amount of scrap copper pipe.

Electrical wiring is a good source of scrap metal, giving electricians an opportunity to cash in on something that others view as excess waste. All electrical jobs produce small amounts of scrap wire when pieces are cut. Although these clippings may seem insignificant on their own, they quickly add up to a sizable amount of copper.

The ideal situation is to work on a job to repair a home that has been partially burned. Large amounts of electrical wiring will need to be replaced, which produces a lot of scrap wiring. Most wiring will be made of copper, but older mobile homes will have aluminum wiring. You will be paid more for the wiring if you remove the insulation, although you can still recycle the material with it on.

Many storm windows are constructed with aluminum frames. As older windows get replaced, window installers carry away vast amounts of scrap aluminum. In many cases, the entire frame of the screen door is also made of aluminum. The glass panes can also be recycled, but it is the aluminum that will generate the most money.