Being Kind to Your Scrap Metal Dealer

You arrive at the scrap metal yard, beaming the smile of all good recyclers, with your carefully saved-up load of metal objects ready to be reincarnated. However, the person at the scale does not share your enthusiasm. “Your old propane tanks are still sealed, and there is plastic-coated wire in here too.” You frown. What could be wrong with that? The scale attendee patiently explains.

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. Hazardous materials need to be removed as well, such as mercury switches in vehicles.
• Realize that appliances have little final value, and you may have to pay a service charge to leave them. Many yards 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. Some scrap yards require that the cylinders be cut in half.
• Drain any tanks, drums and other containers. Make sure they don't contain any fuels, oils, chemicals or contaminated water
• Steel mills can't handle radioactive items, the most common being smoke detectors.
• Be conscious of size and shape. Check with your scrap yard on the maximum length for the items you wish to bring in. Not all yards have room for whole combines or can process uncut wire, for example.
  

Why do all 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 dealer and educate yourself. If you take your metal to the scrap metal pile at your local landfill, they probably would appreciate the same courtesy – as the metal will wind up with a dealer eventually. It’s the nice thing to do!

(Source: June 2006 WasteWatch)

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