Curious what your visit to one of our Scrap It locations might look like? Let’s walk through a typical visit to our scrap yards together.
Make sure you bring everything you need
Before you head over to one of our scrap metal recycling facilities, make sure you bring your customer identification and all the scrap metal you’re planning to sell.
- If you’re a new customer, we need identification with your name and photo.
- If you’re a returning customer, you should have a key tag chain with your customer ID number that we can use to pull up your customer account.
It’s best to visit us with your scrap metal already pre-sorted. If you’re unsure how to do this, check out our three-step guide to identifying your scrap metal and estimating its value.
Check in at the scale house
When you first arrive at a Scrap It yard, you should see our scale house, an enclosed hut in the middle of the yard. If you’re a new customer, you’ll be greeted by one of our yard employees, who will set up your account as either a guest or new customer and then direct you through next steps based on what materials you’ve brought in.
If you’re a returning customer, we’ll ask for your customer ID number located on your key tag chain. After that, you can head over to our scales to start weighing and offloading your scrap metal – ferrous materials first, if you have any, and then non-ferrous materials.
Start with ferrous materials
If you bring in any ferrous materials, you’ll be directed to our truck scale. You can drive straight onto this scale, where we’ll take your “in weight.” Then, our yard employees will direct you to the dump areas for your various ferrous materials.
After offloading all your ferrous materials, follow the line of traffic back to our truck scale, where you’ll be weighed again. The difference between your “in weight” and the second measurement, your “off weight,” tells us how much total ferrous material you offloaded.
Next, we’ll give you a receipt listing your customer number, in weight, off weight, what materials you brought in, and how much you should be paid. If you only brought ferrous materials, you can head straight to our cash office to get paid. If you have non-ferrous materials, we’ll show you where to go for your next steps.
Offload your non-ferrous materials
At our New Hampshire and Everett scrap yards, your non-ferrous materials get weighed on a platform scale inside a smaller building on the same property. In Worcester, this platform scale is at a separate property across the street.
Either way, once you park by the building with our platform scale, you’ll need to use our red carts to offload your non-ferrous materials and roll them inside the building. These red carts get rolled straight onto the platform scale, so make sure you sort different materials into different carts to get the most money for your scrap metal.
If you already have a receipt from offloading your ferrous materials, hand this receipt to the yard employee so they can continue adding on to the same ticket number. Once all the rest of your materials have been weighed, we’ll give you a new receipt with the complete information so you can get paid in full!
Go to our cash office to get paid
After offloading all your materials, bring your receipt to our cash office so we can pay you for the total scrap metal you brought in.
Some of our commercial accounts may send multiple loads of scrap metal in the same week and prefer to receive one payment at the end of the week. However, you have the option to get paid at the end of each visit instead.
Frequently Asked Questions
Why do you need my ID?
Your ID is used only to set up your customer account. This customer account allows us to provide better customer service, provide you with a record of your activity, and give you rewards points you can redeem through our program. Your privacy is safe, and your data and ID are never shared with any person or agency outside of Scrap It.
How does the Scrap It rewards program work?
Scrap It will award your customer account with one point for every $40 you earn for selling your scrap metal. When you accumulate 200 points, you will receive a $50 bonus cash payout.
One important note is that you can’t earn half points, so you must reach each $40 benchmark in ONE payout to receive points. If you earn $20 one day and $20 on another, you won’t receive points for the cumulative ticket amount. If you earn $100 in one payout, you’ll earn 2 points.
Why does my scrap metal need to be sorted?
Different materials have different market values, so sorting your scrap metal allows you to get the most money for your metal. Let’s say you want to sell a mix of brass and copper. If you weigh your scrap metal together without sorting it first, you’ll probably get paid at the lower price for brass instead of the higher price for copper.
Do I sort my own metal, or do you do it for me?
We want you to get paid for the full value of the materials you bring in, so our yard employees will do their best to check what’s being weighed and ensure you receive the proper amount. If the yard is not too busy, we may even be able to take some time to go through your material to sort it with you and teach you how to sort it yourself for next time.
However, our scrap metal facilities can get very busy. During these times, it may not be possible for us to sort your metal with you. In that case, we’ll pay you a mixed price, trying to keep it as fair as possible while accounting for the various metals you have and the time we’ll have to spend later sorting it ourselves.
The best way to ensure you get the most money for your metal is to sort it yourself before coming to our scrap yard. Read through our guide to identifying your scrap metal for help.
How long is a typical visit to the yard?
The length of your visit will depend on what materials you have, how much you bring in, and how busy our scrap yard is. The average visit takes between 10-15 minutes from entering our scrap metal facility to getting paid.
Here are some reasons why your visit may take longer than expected:
- Traffic jam in the yard: our scrap metal yard is large, so after getting weighed on our truck scale, many vehicles can go through the process of offloading ferrous materials simultaneously. However, if one customer has a lot of material or gets stuck for some reason, there may be some delays.
- Line in the building: while our yard is large, our non-ferrous materials building is smaller, and the platform scale inside only takes one customer at a time. If many customers are offloading non-ferrous materials, there may be a wait.
- Sorting on the spot: some customers spend time sorting through their scrap metal while at our facility. We don’t encourage this because our yard can occasionally be very busy, so it’s best to separate your materials beforehand to make your visit as efficient as possible.
Are you ready for your visit to our scrap metal recycling facilities? Get directions to the Scrap It location closest to you, or contact us if you need more information.