Have you noticed your garage or storage unit has a few more rusty, old metal items collecting dust? Not sure what to do with them? Maybe you’ve considered donating, selling or recycling the spare parts or items but aren’t sure where to start.
Your main options are to sell the items independently, sell them to a metal salvage yard or recycling yard, or donate them to a metal recycling center. Each option has its own advantages and disadvantages (time, effort, payout, etc.) so let’s dive into each.
First, let’s talk about the differences between metal salvage yards and metal recycling centers.
What’s the difference between a metal salvage yard & metal recycle center?
There are a lot of overlaps between metal salvage yards and recycle centers. Always contact the business directly to find out what items are acceptable and unacceptable to donate or sell.
Metal recycling centers (or metal recycling yards) typically accept donations or sales of scrap metal items that may be found in your home. A recycle center may take any valuable metal parts of the car that you’d like to part ways with before salvaging the vehicle.
The most common metal items accepted to be recycled are:
- Metal toys/bikes
- Radiators
- Nuts, bolts, screws, nails
- Metal tables/chairs
- Metal sinks/fixtures
- Electrical cords/wiring
- Aluminum items
- Radiators
What can metal be recycled into?
Recycle centers and salvage yards work in similar ways. They take metal parts from either cars or metal household items which then may be picked up and sold to visitors, or crushed and melted down into their liquid metal form to be repurposed. Both options are environmentally friendly ways of recycling old metal scraps.
Metal can be recycled into virtually anything, as long as the type of metal (aluminum, iron, steel, etc.) is the main component to the item.
Benefits of choosing a metal recycling yard over a recycle center
Getting rid of old scrap metal is a great way to make a little money and clean out your garage at the same time. When researching where to part ways with your scrap metal items, be sure to consider the benefits of each.
Benefits of choosing a metal salvage yard:
- Remove an entire junked vehicle from your possession
- Typically only deals with cars and used car parts
- Make a small profit almost immediately
Benefits of choosing a metal recycle center:
- Remove other metal household items that are collecting dust
- May offer tax incentives to donate
- Environmentally friendly way of disposing of unwanted goods
Closing
It’s up to you whether you choose to visit a local salvage yard or a metal recycling center. Both have their pros and cons, and some businesses may offer a few services of both.
At Nationwide Auto Recycling, we’ll buy most used car parts you may be interested in selling. Give our friendly staff a call to see how we can help you today!