How to get the best price for scrap copper wire

Some background,  Scrap copper wire sells for high prices since it can be reused and re-purposed without altering the metal’s quality.   In fact, around 80 percent of all copper used today is recycled and re-purposed.

It’s a good idea to know precisely what sets scrap copper wire grades apart, as well as which grade provides the best overall value.

Let’s investigate the different grades of scrap copper wire and the profit you can make per grade.  (See Table 1 for more details)

Summary of most common types of scrap copper wire grades

• Bare Bright Copper aka Millberry
• # 1 Copper aka Candy
• # 2 Copper aka
• # 1 Insulated  wire
• # 2 Insulated wire
• # 3 BX Cable
• # 4 Christmas Lights
  (For a complete list of scrap material grades visit:  ISRI.org)
  

Bare Bright Copper aka Millberry:

The most valuable type of scrap copper wire is bare bright copper. This uncoated and unalloyed copper is stripped of insulation, paint, and other impurities, making it easy to reuse or recycle. As such, it is usually the first thing that scrap buyers look for.

The #1 way to turn your scrap copper wire into Bare Bright is to use a Bluedog wire stripper. 

#1 Scrap Copper aka Candy:  

The second most profitable grade is #1 copper. Copper under this category is similar to bare bright copper but has traces of oxidation. Scrap materials in this grade include bus bars, clippings and clean copper tubing free of fittings, insulation, paint, and solder.

#1 copper is the second most profitable type of scrap copper to trade-in.  To be classified as #1, the copper should be comprised of bus bars, clippings, commutator segments and scrap wire of at least 1/16th of an inch in diameter.  It should also be clean in appearance, unalloyed and uncoated.

The most valuable type of copper pipe must be clean copper tubing free of fittings, insulation, paint, solder, and other materials.   In fact, most copper tubing and copper pipes can be of #1 grade providing they show few signs of corrosion and have their fittings removed.  Trace amounts of oxidation on the tubing are generally acceptable.   Trace amounts of oxidation is also ok for scrap copper wire to qualify as # 1-grade copper.

#2 Copper wire aka Birch/Cliff:

 Scrap copper that has a dirty appearance falls under the #2 copper grade. To qualify for this category, the material’s copper content should be 94 to 96 percent. Any unalloyed wire or pipe that has solder, paint, coating and other types of tarnishing falls are classified as #2 copper. Copper fittings with oxidation are generally accepted as long as the damage is not extreme.

Shall consist of miscellaneous, unalloyed copper scrap having nominal 96% copper content (minimum 94%) as determined by electrolytic assay. Should be free of the following: Excessively leaded, tinned, soldered copper scrap; brasses and bronzes; excessive oil content, iron and non-metallics; copper tubing with other than copper connections or with sediment; copper wire from burning, containing insulation; hair wire, burnt wire which is brittle; and should be reasonably free of ash.

#1 Insulated:

This type of scrap copper wire covers clean, unalloyed, uncoated and untinned copper wires. Plastic insulation with a gauge thickness of 16 or above is acceptable. Insulation does not need to be stripped.  All ends of the wire must be cut off to get this rate.

The following are common # 1 Insulated wire grades:  Romex wire, THHN,  12 AWG,  14 AWG,  16 AWG,  3/0, Single Strand,  Multi Strand, 500 MCM, 750 MCM, 1000 MCM,   XPLE Cable, and much more.

Bluedog Wire Stripping Tip:   If you strip #1 Insulated you will get bare bright copper pricing.

#2 Insulated Copper Wire  

This category consists of unalloyed copper wire with a gauge thinner than 16. This includes heavy, double or plastic insulation.  Wirings from electronics, extension cords, and other gadgets are acceptable.

Number 2 insulated wires usually have tin and nickel coatings. When the insulation is removed, the wire should#2 grade insulated copper consists of unalloyed wire – thinner than 16 gauge – which includes heavy, double or plastic insulation.  The grade generally covers many common types of telecommunications wiring as well as electronics such as outlet and extension cords.  Some coatings on the scrap, such as tin and nickel for example, as well as some degree of corrosion will also meet the classification

Keypoints:   Each individual wire is smaller than 1/16 AWG.  And can be clean or potentially coated, with red lacquer,  shellac,  tin,  or other types of coatings.

Common types of #2 insulated wire:  phone wire, data wire, computer cables,  angel hair wire, tin-coated copper,  appliance cables,  adapters, speaker cable, extension cord wire.

#3 BX Cable: 

BX cable is either Aluminum shielded or if it’s older might be steel jacketed.    Inside BX cable is single strand copper wire.  THHN, this is easy to scrap.  BX is normally 0.5″ in diameter up to 1″ OD.

If you removed the Armoured jacket from the BX Cable – you will have Solid THHN cable.  Stripping this will give you bare bright copper which is worth much more per lb than BX Cable Grades but may not be worth the labor to do so.

If you scrap BX cable you can sell both the Aluminum and Barebright copper to get top dollar for your scrap copper wire price. Scrap metal prices.

#4 Insulated – Xmas Lights :

We really don’t recommend to strip Christmas lights.  This type of scrap copper wire is generally meant for a Smelting process. Although, it may pay to sell this as it because most scrap yards pay anywhere between  $ 0.10 to $ 0.25 USD / lb.

How much is scrap copper wire worth?

We have created the chart below to give you a general view on how much you can expect to make per lb based on copper scrap wire grade.  The purer your scrap, the higher the dollar value a scrap buyer will be willing to pay.  Also the more weight you have, the more the scrap buyer will be willing to pay.

The chart below also indicates a target range of how scrap yards will approach price. This chart also demonstrates how much the scrap yard is likely to makes per lb.

In conclusion,  once you identify which grade of scrap copper wire you have, you should now know the approx payout per grade.

Table 1:

*These rates are subject to volume and per scrap yard discretion. 
Visit www.kitco.com to learn more about market rates of copper.