How to sort metals before selling
Before heading to a recycling center, preparing your materials is an essential step. Careful, methodical sorting prior to sale significantly increases your buyback price and allows you to maximize the value of each material at the highest rate.
When a batch contains mixed metals, the entire volume risks being downgraded and bought back at the price of the cheapest category. Taking a few minutes to separate your materials guarantees optimal financial returns.
1. Separate Ferrous and Non-Ferrous Metals
The first step is to distinguish regular scrap metal from non-ferrous metals (copper, aluminum, brass, stainless steel). Non-ferrous metals have a much higher per-kilogram value than ferrous metals.
The magnet test: Grab a magnet to sort your materials. If the magnet sticks to the metal, it is a ferrous metal (steel, cast iron, iron scrap). If there is no magnetic attraction, you have a non-ferrous metal (copper, brass, aluminum, zinc, lead).
2. Strip Electrical Cables to Double Their Value
Processing electrical cables is the best example of the payout gains generated by sorting. Removing the plastic insulating sheath to recover bare copper moves your material into a higher price category.
- Insulated cables (sheathed): Generally bought back between €2.50 and €6.50 / kg depending on the copper content inside the sheath.
- Bare copper (Millberry): Clean, stripped copper wire reaches €10.30 / kg, offering maximum payout for your labor.
3. Best Practices to Optimize Your Batch
To get the most out of your metals when weighing:
- Isolate brass from copper: Yellowish brass plumbing fittings should be separated from pure reddish-orange copper pipes.
- Clean aluminum components: Remove iron screws, plastic parts, or rubber seals attached to aluminum profiles to avoid weight deductions.
- Separate stainless steel from scrap iron: Stainless steel is non-magnetic or very weakly magnetic and holds higher net value compared to regular steel.
Get Sorting Support at Bull Métal
Unsure about a material? Our teams can help you identify and categorize your metals directly at our Ozoir-la-Ferrière (77) facility.
We carry out precise sorting right in front of you and perform certified weighing down to the gram for each category, with immediate payment.
