When a car or home stereo goes bad, rather than throw it out, it's worth the effort to take it apart at least a little bit and get at some of the potentially valuable scrap metal inside. In this post, we'll give you some tips and tricks to make the process of dismantling a stereo easier. Metals such as copper and even gold (in small amounts) are often available inside stereos, and even the wiring and motherboards can have significant value.
Scrap copper is one of our customers' favorite metals to hunt for, because it's always in high demand. Even non-scrappers know that copper is a consistently valuable material. One of the most common ways to find copper is in the form of copper wire.
There’s a reason copper is one of the most frequently recycled metals at scrap facilities like Encore Recyclers. It’s pretty much the most valuable per-pound metal that you can frequently find in large quantities. However, it’s a lot easier to find if you know where to look—so here are the top five places to find scrap copper.
If you’ve been scrapping in Dallas for a while, you likely already know that copper is in high demand—meaning that you get more money per pound for your copper recycling than for almost anything else when it comes time to bring your materials into the yard. Even if you aren’t yet a scrapper, you’ve likely heard at least one off-the-wall story about copper thieves stealing materials, especially copper wire. In two different cities, copper thieves actually succeeded in tearing out parts of underground power lines, leaving thousands of residents without power.
The easiest way to get started as a scrapper is to start scrapping materials in your own home. You can learn many of the skills necessary to becoming a successful scrapper, without the added difficulty of looking for and asking permission to take recyclable materials. Most people are surprised when they find out how much potentially valuable recyclable scrap metal is in their own home—and love making a positive impact on the environment while also earning a little extra cash.
One of the biggest areas of contention in the scrap metal community involves the collection of copper pennies. Here's some background on the subject to help you form your own opinions. But let us state clearly at the very beginning: scrapping or melting down a copper penny to be scrapped is currently illegal.
After you've finished a demolition or other project, you may wish to recycle your scrap metal. Scrap metal is not biodegradable, so it's ideal for recycling. And while Encore Recyclers will buy your metal when mixed together, you may be able to achieve a better price for your scrap by separating out your scrap metals and doing a little prep work, such as removing plastic, rubber, or other contaminants. Read on to learn how to best separate and prep your scrap materials.
Spoiler alert: NO! We saw a disturbing video of a man advocating the burning of insulated copper wire, purportedly to qualify the wire as Copper #2, which brings a higher sale value when sold as scrap than insulated wire. Please don't do this.
