I’ve been cleaning out the house the past few months preparing for a move. I’m big on recycling so wanted to make sure everything wasn’t just thrown away. We donated everything that was still usable. Recycled or trashed everything that wasn’t. Well, our trash company doesn’t take metals not in can form. Understandably, it could be unsafe for workers or their equipment. So, I just piled it all up in the garage until I was ready to take it to the recycling center in bulk.
I also started collecting aluminum cans from some of our household drinks and from picking up trash along the road. Its aluminum, I couldn’t just throw it away! Well, there’s a lot of litter around here and between that and our personal use I ended up with 4 large boxes of crushed cans. So, finally trying to clear space in the garage I took it to a local scrap metal place that will buy your metals. They’re everywhere, so do a quick search for one in your area.
All told, I sold the following back to the scrap collector:
| Assorted Light Steel @ $0.065 per lb | 180 lbs | $11.70 |
| Aluminum Cans @ $0.25 per lb | 108 lbs | $27 |
| Unstripped Wire @ $0.50 per lb | 8 lbs | $4 |
| Total | 296 lbs | $42.70 |
I made a quick $43 (they rounded up)! The unstripped wire was just old household cords that we don’t have use for anymore. Charging cords, power cords, etc. The copper in them is valuable.
All in all, not a bad day. If I had spent more time and effort collecting scrap, I could have made a lot more. This is also in a time (COVID-19) where aluminum prices are down to $0.25/lb when they were twice that ($0.50/lb) just a couple of years ago. If you have time, you may be able to wait out the price drop and it may go back up in the future.
We made some quick money and we did a good deed in the process. We prevented 296 lbs of metal from going to the landfill, and saved even more resources by eliminating the need for mining that much new material. Double win!
There’s a new forum from our network where you can engage with others for tips, tricks, and ideas to earning more with scrap metal and other forms of recycling. Check them out at the Recycler Forum.
