Be Kind to Your Scrap Metal Recycler

A scrap metal dealer's list of what they will and will not accept is longer than you might think. These criteria have to do with the size and form of the metal object and the "extra" materials commonly attached to metal brought to scrap yards, which should be dealt with elsewhere. The criteria differ from yard to yard depending on their storage and processing capacity.

Here are some common requests that scrap metal dealers make of their patrons:

• Remove as much non-metal material as possible, and dispose of it properly yourself, e.g. chair seats , food can labels, attached wood or plastic, tires,mattresses. Hazardous materials need to be removed as well, such as mercury switches in vehicles. Ballast in light fixtures also need to be removed.
• Realize that appliances have little final value, and you may have to pay a service charge to have them picked up. We require the freon or freon and compressor to be removed from fridges and freezers prior to bringing them in.
• Open all sealed cylinders by removing the valve - for instance, from an old propane tank.
• Oil & Fuel tanks must be clean and a hole cut in them.
• Don't take your metal items to the landfill. They are not biodegradable!

So, why do all of this? First, you save your dealer the time it would take them to do this for you; when you add up the many tonnes they receive from different customers, that is a lot of time. Second, you can help make a safer work environment for the yard employees. Sealed cylinders are very dangerous when compacted. Third, you can help everybody's bottom line. If they have to pay to haul away a lot of garbage stripped from metal, they may pay less for metal.

Be kind to your scrap metal recyclers and educate yourself.