What Are the Most Profitable Items to Scrap?

Platinum ScrapRecycle Precious MetalsRecycle Refine Platinum

Nov 25

A caller to our office asks, “What are the most profitable items to scrap?”

That is a very intelligent question because when you stop to analyze it, you see that it contains several other questions that are also very smart to ask:

Availability. What kinds of scrap can I obtain in sufficient quantities if I go looking for them? In other words, the best things to recycle are those you can obtain easily and quickly, not those that are scarce, hard to find, or located thousands of miles from where you live.
Value. What kinds of scrap have the highest value per unit? In other words, will you have to recycle just one unit in order to make $10.00, or will you have to recycle 250 units? Obviously, you want to get involved in recycling materials that have the highest value per unit.
Convenience. What kinds of scrap are cheapest and easiest to store, handle, move, and ship? You could, for example, collect 500 catalytic converters that you can recycle for $100 (an estimate), or you could collect a small number of used platinum laboratory crucibles that you can recycle for $100. Those catalytic converters are going to occupy a small storage building and require a lot of effort to ship, while those crucibles are going to take up a small storage tote and be cheap to ship. So as you can see, you want to find and recycle items that are easy to store and ship, while containing the highest value.
Liquidity. What kinds of scrap are in demand? In other words, you want to collect items that people want to buy and are willing to pay for. If you buy 50 pounds of old silver-plated knives and forks, for example, you might have a difficult time selling them for a profit at local “we buy gold” stores or at a pawn shop. (This is another way of saying, they have low liquidity because they are difficult to sell.) If you have 10 PAMP Suisse bullion bars, on the other hand, you will have no problem selling them at close to current trading prices to a bullion dealer. Note: This consideration is not too important if you are working with Specialty Metals Smelters and Refiners to reclaim the silver from items like old silver-plated tableware. Our precious metals refinery will extract silver or other precious metals from virtually any kind of item and pay you promptly.

Which Kinds of Scrap Meet those Requirements?

Okay, we are looking for kinds of scrap that are available, valuable, convenient to handle and store, and easy to liquidate. If that is what you are looking for (and you should be), here are some items that should move to the top of your list: