Learning About Metal Recycling

Six Key Factors When Selling Or Recycling Copper Wire

19 March 2020

Barry Mills

There are numerous benefits to selling or recycling copper wire. The primary benefit is that you should be able to make some money on any scrap copper wire you have available. 

However, you need to take a few factors into account when you're in the process of selling or recycling copper wire. The following are six key factors to consider when searching out a copper wire buyer. 

Insulation and other items attached to copper wire

Before you are able to sell copper wire, you may need to remove attached items from it. It's very common for copper wire to have insulation attached to it. There are also often metallic components like fittings attached to copper wire that may need to be removed. 

You'll probably find that recycling centers and scrap yards pay less for copper wire if it includes insulation and other items. It's therefore probably worth the time to clean your copper wire and remove these items. 

Size of the wire

Copper wire can vary significantly in terms of its size. Hopefully, you have copper wire of larger diameters because larger wire is often more valuable. Usually, copper cabling is the type of copper wire that is thickest and therefore most valuable. 

Labor required to gather and prepare copper wire

When evaluating the profitability of a copper wire selling venture, you need to consider the amount of labor that will go into it.

You want to find sources of copper wire and scrap yards that are located close enough to one another that you won't have to spend too much time traveling in between. Also, you want to try to scout out copper wire that will take the least amount of time to prepare for scrapping. 

Presence of wire coating

Some copper wire is covered with metallic coatings made from silver or tin, for example. Also, copper wire coating could be made from a non-metallic material like enamel.

The presence of any coating could impact your ability to sell copper wire or the price that you're able to get for it. Make sure you discuss the presence of coatings with scrap yards in advance so that you know they'll accept coated copper wire before you transport it to their facilities. 

Weight of your scrap copper wire

Generally speaking, you'll probably be paid according to the weight of copper wire that you have. Consider the amount that various scrap yards are offering per pound when deciding where to sell your copper wire. 

Transportation costs

You need to factor transportation costs into your calculations for how much you'll earn by selling copper wire. Large quantities of copper wire can be heavy and therefore difficult to transport. You can make your copper wire easier to transport by forming it into compact bundles. 

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