What Parts Of A Car Can Be Sold & Recycled
Recycling scrap metal is an effective way to make some spare cash. But not every homeowner has access to left over scrap metal readily available for recycling. One common item that many people do have access to is an old car. If you own a vehicle that is no longer operable, instead of bringing it to the junk yard it can be recycled at a scrap metal yard. And aside from just towing your entire vehicle down to the yard, you can actually strip a vehicle for the most valuable parts. 
Catalytic Converters
A catalytic converter is a part of many vehicles that reduces the toxic gases and pollutants that come out of the vehicle's exhaust. Catalytic converters are found right before the exhaust pipe and are made of precious metals. They can fetch a higher price than many of the more common metal pieces that are brought to scrap yards. 
Car Batteries
Recycling regular batteries can be difficult. Normal batteries are hazardous materials and need to be disposed of in the proper way. Because of this many people think that car batteries must also be hard to get rid of. But that's actually not true. Car batteries are one of the most recycled products in the country. Not only is it good for the environment to recycle your car battery, but it is good for your wallet as well. 
Wheels/Hubcaps
 Your vehicle's wheels and hubcaps can be quickly turned around for some quick cash. Each of the metal components in your car's wheels are valuable to scrap metal yards. Additionally the tires may be worth selling to a used auto parts store. In fact some scrap yards also buy tires, although you should check on that before bringing tires to your local scrap yard. 
Oil Pans, Filters, and Misc.
Throughout your vehicle there are a variety of metal components that can be detached and sold piece by piece. And although it might not provide as much capital as catalytic converters, your oil filter and similar auto parts can be sold at scrap yards. 
Learn More About Recycling Your Vehicle
At Second Street Iron & Metal in Everett Massachusetts, we want to make recycling your vehicle easy and convenient. That is why we provide a helpful FAQ on our website to learn more about what you need to recycle an older vehicle. For more info please contact our team. 

Where To Find Scrap Metal
Recycling and selling scrap metal is an effective way to make some spare cash quickly. However, if you do not have access to a lot of scrap metal at your home, it may not be cost effective to spend a day bringing what you do have to a local scrap yard and then selling it. That is why it is effective to find scrap metal nearby your home. There are many places you can go to find scrap metal for free. Not only is becoming a scrap metal collector and recycler good for making money, it is also good for the environment. It is estimated that only 30% of recyclable metal gets recycled, so finding excess metal and bringing it to your local yard can really help make more community more environmentally friendly. 
Talk To Your Local Businesses
You may not have scrap metal readily available in your home or on your property, but local businesses might. Many homeowners and business owners are not willing to invest the time in getting a truck and bringing their meager amount of metal to a local yard, but if a few collectors are willing to take metal off business owner's hands they can quickly gather a large amount of metal. Lots of businesses generate "bone yards" or areas where they leave all of their obsolete and broken equipment. From landscaping companies to apartment buildings, it is likely that businesses are needlessly storing large heavyweight metal that they do not have the time to transport. By making pick-up and removal a free service, businesses will happily give you old appliances, machines, and other equipment. 
Construction & Renovation Job Sites
Most scrap yards go after both residents and contractors. That is because, aside from local homeowners recycling old vehicles, contractors generate the most scrap metal. Renovation and demolition products quickly create a lot of scrap metal. If you are able to help effectively store or transport that metal away from the job site, contractors will likely let you help. And if you already work with a construction company, this is a win-win scenario. On the one side, you can help your construction team stay organized and decrease clutter, on the other side you can sell the scrap metal yourself. Just make sure to get permission to move metal from the foreman of the project. 
Community Pages, Craiglist, & Other Online Forums
A lot of towns have community pages, websites, and similar sites where residents can communicate with one another. It is never a bad idea to let your neighbors know that you are willing to help them transport any scrap metal that they are unable to transport. Offering this free service will likely get a few neighbors to call you to help get rid of an old refrigerator or car. Just make sure that in the event someone wants help with car removal that you follow your state's laws on recycling used vehicles. Many scrap yards will not accept a used car without proof of ownership. 
Learn More In Our blog
For more information on how you can get the most out of your scrap metal recycling projects, contact our team or visit our blog for more ideas. 

The Difference Between Ferrous & Non-Ferrous Metals
As you drive around you are likely to see a fair share of scrap metal recycling yards throughout. Recycling scrap metal is not only a great way to make money, but it is also very important for the environment. You will likely almost always see a sign outside of every yard indicating if they take ferrous and non-ferrous metals or just one or the other. Although most yards take both, there are some that only take one. For the scrap yard, the difference between these two categories of metal impacts how they recycle the metal. For consumers, whether your metal is ferrous or non-ferrous will likely impact how much money you make for your metal. 

What Is The Difference Between The Two Types?
Simply put, ferrous metal has iron and non-ferrous metal does not. More specifically, these metals have very different properties compared to one another. Ferrous metals include steel, alloy steel, carbon steel, wrought iron, and cast iron. These is a lot of ferrous metal in circulation. From skyscrapers to bridges, most structures utilize ferrous metals for their structural integrity. Ferrous metals easily rust when introduced to moisture due to their high carbon content. However, both stainless steel and wrought iron are actually rust resistant due to the presence of chromium in the metal. 

Examples of Non-Ferrous Metals
There are many types of Non-ferrous metals. They include tin, copper, lead, zinc, silver, gold, and aluminum. Unlike ferrous metals, these metals do not contain iron which makes them more malleable. For this reason they are not usually used for structural integrity but instead used for piping, electrical wiring, and similar projects. They are also resistant to rust which makes them perfect for gutters, roofing, and outdoor signs. 

The Importance of Organizing Scrap Metal
Whenever you decide to recycle scrap metal it is important to ensure that you identify your metal and organize it by kind. Many yards will charge you for the average of all of your metals if the metals are not organized into separate containers. You can easily tell the difference between ferrous and non-ferrous metals by using a magnetic (except in the case of stainless steel which is ferrous but non-magnetic). 

Recycle Your Scrap Metal in Everett
If you live in the Greater Boston area and need to recycle scrap metal. You can easily sell it at our yard in Everett. Our team pays competitive prices for all ferrous and non-ferrous metals as well as old vehicles. For more information please contact our team. 

How To Clean & Organize Metal
When you look at the prices provided at a scrap metal yard you will likely notice that they pay different prices for different metals. Additionally they may indicate different variations of the same metal including numbers or with descriptors like "prepared" or "unprepared" or "clean". For someone new to scrap metal recycling, these terms and identifiers might not make sense. And although you might know what type of metal you have you might not know if it is "prepared" or "clean" or what number it is. Here is a quick guide to these terms and how to make more for your scrap metal. 
How To Organize Scrap Metal
The first step in recycling scrap metal is organizing the metal into separate bins or containers. You should keep like metals with each other. If you provide an unorganized bin of metal, the yard could pay you based on an average of all the metals or even pay you based on the cheapest metal in the bin. To get the most for your metal you should separate each metal into separate bins. 
Understanding Numbers in Reference To Scrap Metal
Scrap Yards will usually indicate if they pay different prices for the quality of the metal provided by using numbers. For instance, heavy metal steel is usually categorized into two groups: HMS #1 and HMS #2. HMS #1 is higher quality as it does not contain blackened steel or galvanized steel. The same applies to copper. Although in the case of Copper, metals can be separated into three categories. Each of these types of copper is identified by its quality.  
The Difference Between Clean & Unclean Metal
Some scrap metal yards will organize copper based on how "clean" it is. To someone new to recycling copper, they might misunderstand this as referring to cleanliness. In fact the clean copper refers to the damage and rust. Signs of oxidation and damage can decrease the value of the copper. Copper #2 likely shows signs of oxidation or has solder, paint, coatings, and other tarnishing affecting the value of the copper. Just like separating different types of metal you should separate different grades of copper and heavy metal steel. 
Prepared Vs Unprepared Heavy Metal Steel
Another consideration is if the your metal is prepared or unprepared. Unprepared metal includes components that have multiple metals present. Metal is most valuable if it is purely one metal separated from all foreign materials. This means all attachments that are composed of other metals or materials need to be removed. 
Preparing Your Scrap Metal For Recycling
When you plan to sell scrap metal you can improve your profits by taking a few simple steps. Remove insulation from copper wire, separate metals into their purest forms and keep all of your metals in separate bins. By recycling each metal individually you can get the most for your metals. However, some people recycle scrap metal may not have the tools or the time for these projects. In that case, you can always recycle your metal without organizing and cleaning it, but you will want to go to a yard you can trust to give you a fair price for unorganized metals.