ACCURATE GRADING OF SCRAP METAL IN BECONTREE HEATH | CROW METALS
Whether you’ve long been making an income from offloading scrap for sale at either of our scrap yards near Becontree Heath, or you’re totally new to the idea – proper organisation can really help you keep on top of it all and maximise your return. So on this page, for the benefit of all past and future clients visiting our scrap metal merchants, we’ve provided a brief guide on sorting the scrap you come into possession of.
Already well organised and raring to make top dollar on your scrap for sale? Visit our Romford or Dagenham scrap yards – the latter being just a short distance from Becontree Heath – or call our scrap metal merchants for assistance by dialling 0208 596 5937.
Sorting Your Scrap Metal – A Guide
Preparation – We’d first recommend, if you’re in it for the long haul, getting some dedicated bins that you can mark. One each for aluminium, iron, stainless steel, regular steel, copper and brass should suffice, unless you wish to just have two for ferrous and non-ferrous metals. The decision should be based on how much you intend to scrap.
Labelling and segmenting makes it ultra-clear when it’s time to visit scrap yards or scrap metal merchants, as the bins fill up and need to be emptied; while Becontree Heath clients certainly can bring single loads of scrap for sale to us, it can be cost inefficient when you factor in the cost of petrol/the time it will take out of your day that could be better spent elsewhere.
Splitting Scrap Metal Up – The first part of splitting up a mixed load of scrap metal is putting it into ferrous and non-ferrous piles. The former is magnetic and takes in iron and steel, while the latter is non-magnetic and includes aluminium, copper and brass; so if in serious doubt, a simple magnet will help you separate the wheat from the chaff.
Identifying Specific Metals – The internet is a blessing when it comes to identifying metals, as a quick Google search will help you get a better idea of what you have. But Becontree Heath clients should note that when it comes to non-ferrous metals, aluminium is known for its silver colour and lightness, copper usually comes in cables, wires and piping – and is not to be confused with red brass, which is an off-colour compared to real copper. Yellowish metals are typically brass. If you struggle separating non-ferrous metals, our scrap metal merchants will be able to help.
With ferrous metals, note that steel is very solid and can occasionally be slightly rusty (especially if it’s been positioned outdoors). Lead is known for its weight, and is fairly easy to determine as such. Tin is usually quite malleable, and will often crack when bent. Stainless steel is also fairly heavy, but completely immune to rusting.
Further Sorting – Some of our Becontree Heath based regulars who are always bringing in scrap for sale and want to be in and out of our scrap yards ASAP, like to sort their metals in other ways to really make the process 100% efficient. Cleanliness is a great, broad category that can help with the weighing and grading process we’ll carry out when you visit us. Clean metal is worth more than dirty metal, so you can sort copper, for example, by whether it’s rusty, dirty or otherwise contaminated.