Copper is a valuable metal that can be found all over your home. There is copper in the wiring for lamps and televisions, in the circuit boards in your laptop, and even in the pipes that service your home.
Selling copper scrap can be a great way to generate some extra cash. In order to effectively work with a copper buyer, you will need to be able to speak the buyer's language.
This means familiarizing yourself with some of the jargon that is unique to the copper scrap industry.
1. Bare Bright
One of the first things a copper buyer will want to know is the quality of the scrap copper that you have available. 'Bare bright' is a term that is used to describe the most valuable type of copper. Bare bright is classified as any copper wire that has no traces of paint, coating, insulation, or oxidation on the exterior surfaces.
You can typically identify bare bright copper by the shiny finish these products display. Be aware that bare bright copper can be hard to find, so ensure that the copper you are trying to sell as scrap metal meets the definition before telling a buyer that you have bare bright available.
2. #1 Copper
Another type of valuable copper scrap is referred to as #1 copper. This type of copper is similar to bare bright, but it can contain trace amounts of oxidation. Since bare bright only refers to copper wires, all clean pipes, tubes, bars, and clippings will fall into the #1 copper category.
The market price for bare bright and #1 copper tends to be similar, so both are great types of scrap to sell when you are trying to generate additional income.
3. Insulated Copper
Many copper wires and tubes are covered with a plastic coating. This coating is designed to protect the copper against the elements and offer structural stability for the wires or tubes within. Copper buyers refer to these plastic-coated products as insulated copper.
It can be tricky to determine the value of insulated copper without first stripping away the plastic coating to reveal the raw copper elements. If the copper appears to be untreated, it will have more value than copper with a nickel or tin coating.
Be sure that you ask your copper buyer whether you need to strip your insulated copper, or if the buyer has the tools needed to strip the insulated copper on-site.
Share23 November 2020
After we made a commitment to focus on the environment as a family, we decided that it might make sense to start recycling. We focused carefully on sorting our plastic, metal, and paper, and we were able to completely overhaul how much trash we threw away. Within a few days, we were able to see a reduction in our amount of normal garbage accumulation, and an increase in the amount of materials we were sending in for recycling. It was great to teach our kids what they needed to know to protect the environment. This blog is all about learning how to recycle more effectively.
