How To Organize Your Scrap Metal & Make The Most Money
If you are new to recycling scrap metal, you may not know that one of the biggest factors in price is how your metal is organized and cleaned. Recycling scrap metal is both great for the environment and an effective way to make some spare cash. However, there are a lot of things that will impact how much cash you make. Choosing the right yard, choosing the right season, choosing how much scrap metal you recycle at once, and organizing your metal will all greatly impact how valuable your metal is. One of the easiest ways to get the most for your metal is to 
Identify The Metal
The first and most important step in organization is identifying what types of metal you have. The key difference between ferrous and non-ferrous metals is that ferrous metals contain iron and are therefore magnetic. Separating your ferrous and non ferrous metals can help make the organizing process easier. Additionally you should keep like metals together. If you have copper wiring, it should be with other copper metals, and if you have aluminum you should keep it with aluminum. 
Cleaning Metals
When people hear that there is a difference between clean and unclean metals they may think scrap yards are asking you to power wash metals. That's not the case. A clean metal refers to any metal component that doesn't have anything hanging off of it, or other metals attached to it. Metal is weighed to determine its price. So scrap yards prefer that the metal you provide is 100% metal and not any other elements. Break pieces of metal into their base components, remove any nuts or insulation (for copper wiring). Unclean metal is bought for a large discount compared to clean metal. 
How To Organize Copper For Scrap Metal Recycling
Copper metal is one of the most profitable metals you can sell. It is found mostly in wires as well as piping and tubing. The cleaner the copper the higher it will be rated. There is #1, #2, and #3 copper. The lower the number the purer the copper. Removing any insulation, rubber, paint, rust, and solder will greatly impact the value of your copper wire. 
How To Organize Computer Parts
Technology is constantly advancing, and for that reason it is likely that something that was good a few years ago is obsolete today. The best way to make money on computer parts is to break them into their smallest components and separate the parts based on the metal they are made of. 
Contact Second Street Iron & Metal
If you have questions about scrap metal recycling please contact our team. We would be happy to tell you about our prices, the metals that we buy, and give you advice on how to make more on your scrap metal. 
 

Environmental Benefits of Scrap Metal Recycling

Scrap metal recycling provides many benefits. residents can make a decent amount of money recycling an old car, copper wire & piping, or other scrap metal that they can find. But it is also environmentally beneficial. As you know there are two types of resources; renewable and non-renewable. As we continue to use up our non-renewable resources, it becomes more and more important for us to find ways to reuse and recycle them instead of trashing them. 

Metals Are Non-Renewable

Metal is a non-renewable resource, or at least the raw materials like tin, zinc, and copper that are used to make metal are all non-renewable. We have been mining for these materials for millennia. Compared to oil, we have been removing earth's metal resources for much longer. And some researchers believe we could fully deplete our earth's metal resources in 10 to 75 years. That range has frightened many as we are not completely sure how long we will be able to mine new resources. It is extremely dependent on the actions we take now. 

The Benefits of Scrap Metal Recycling

Even if we can no longer get new metal in 70 years, we can still use the metal we already have made. Existing metals like the aluminum you get from soda cans can easily be recycled and reused. In fact, it takes 95% less energy to smelt recycled metal into a new product than it does to refine, process, and smelt new metal. Repurposing any material takes less energy than creating a new material altogether. 

Recycling And Greenhouse Gases

Greenhouse gases are a group of different compounds that trap heat in our atmosphere. They are at the heart of global warming and an increase in these gases over the last century has greatly impacted our climate. Recycling unwanted metal can help reduce the amount of raw metal we need. Extraction of fossil fuels and non-renewable resources is greatly increasing the presence of greenhouse gases in our atmosphere. 

Making Money & Protecting the Planet with Scrap Metal Recycling 

Recycling scrap metal is an effective way to make some quick cash and also help the planet; it is a complete win-win. You can find scrap metal in a variety of places. Old vehicles and appliances around your home are a great place to start when looking for scrap metal to recycle.

Recycle your Metal at Second Street Iron & Metal

If you are looking to recycle some scrap metal, consider coming down to Second Street Iron & Metal in Everett, Massachusetts. Our team would be happy to pay you for your scrap metal.