Copper wire scrap price: grades, stripping and what cable is really worth
Copper wire is the most valuable common scrap in the UK by weight, and the price you get depends less on the market than on the grade you hand over. Bright, clean, stripped wire earns the top rate; the same wire with its insulation on earns a fraction, because the yard is buying plastic by the kilo as well.
Copper wire scrap price: key facts
| Top grade | Bright bare wire: clean, uncoated, untarnished copper wire thicker than about 1.3 mm, with no solder, paint or insulation. Pays the highest rate at any yard |
|---|---|
| Next grades | Heavy copper (clean pipe and thick wire that may be tarnished), then number 2 copper (thin, tinned, soldered or painted) and braziery |
| Insulated cable | Bought by copper content. Thick single core cable may be 70 per cent copper by weight; household twin and earth roughly half; thin data and telephone cable far less |
| Burnt wire | Burning the insulation off is an offence, and yards downgrade burnt wire or refuse it |
| This month's price | On our scrap copper price page. Yards quote below the benchmark by grade |
| The rules | Licensed dealer, photo ID and address recorded, payment by bank transfer or cheque only |
The grades
Yards sort copper into grades that follow the trade specifications used across the industry, and the names vary a little from one to the next. Bright bare wire, also called bright and shiny, is stripped wire with no coating, no tarnish and no solder, thicker than a pencil lead. It is the purest form of scrap copper and goes almost straight back into new wire, so it pays the top rate. Heavy copper, or number 1 copper, covers clean pipe, bar and thick wire that may have darkened but carries no paint, solder or fittings. Number 2 copper is everything that is clean copper but less convenient: thin wire, tinned wire, soldered joints, painted pipe. Below that sits braziery, copper with brass fittings or steel still attached, and burnt wire, which many yards will not buy at all. Each step down the list is a noticeable step down in price, and the gap between bright wire and insulated cable is the largest of them.
What insulated cable is worth, and whether to strip it
A yard buying cable with the insulation on is buying copper and plastic together, and pays for the copper it estimates is inside. Yards grade cable by copper content: thick single core and welding cable at the top, household twin and earth in the middle at roughly half copper by weight, and thin flex, data and telephone cable at the bottom, where the copper may be a quarter of the weight or less. Armoured cable has steel wire wound round it and is graded on its own.
Stripping converts cable into bright wire, which multiplies the rate per kilo, but it takes time. A hand stripping tool pays for itself quickly on thick cable, where one pull frees a long length of heavy wire. On thin cable the copper freed per minute is so small that most people are better off selling it as cable. The arithmetic is simple: weigh a sample, strip it, weigh the copper, and compare the yard's cable rate with its bright wire rate for the same starting weight. Electricians and demolition contractors with a steady flow usually strip the thick cable and sell the rest as it comes.
Never burn it
Burning insulation off cable is quick and it is illegal. It counts as treating waste without an environmental permit under section 33 of the Environmental Protection Act 1990, the smoke falls under the Clean Air Act 1993, and the Environment Agency prosecutes. The fumes from burning PVC include hydrogen chloride and dioxins. Yards know burnt wire when they see it, from the colour and the brittleness, and because the law requires them to record every purchase they are wary of it: most downgrade it to number 2 at best, many refuse it, and all of them remember who brought it.
Where copper wire comes from
Rewires and refurbishments produce old twin and earth and flex by the sack. Demolition and strip out produce cable, busbar and pipe by the tonne. Electrical contractors accumulate offcuts from every job. Motors, transformers, generators and alternators carry copper windings that are stripped out by the yard or by specialist processors. Older telephone and data cable is thin but plentiful. The magnet test separates copper from the steel it arrives with: copper never holds a magnet, so anything that does is steel conduit, fixings or armour to be taken off before weighing.
Selling it: the rules
Copper wire is the metal most often stolen in the UK, from railways, telecoms and building sites, so the rules are enforced. Only a licensed scrap metal dealer may buy it; the dealer must verify your identity with photo ID and proof of address and record what you sold; and cash payment is banned under the Scrap Metal Dealers Act 2013, so you are paid by bank transfer or cheque. Expect to be asked where a large quantity came from, and if you run a business, keep your own record of what went to the yard and when: it is good practice and it answers the question if anyone asks later. For more than a few sacks, having the copper collected often beats delivering it, as our guide to scrap metal collection explains, and the directory below lists the licensed dealers and collectors in your postcode area.
Frequently asked questions
How much is copper wire worth per kg?
It depends on the grade. Bright bare wire earns the top rate at any yard, heavy copper a little less, number 2 copper less again, and insulated cable a fraction of the bright wire rate because the yard pays only for the copper it estimates is inside. This month's benchmark is on our scrap copper price page.
Is it worth stripping copper wire?
For thick cable, usually yes: one pull of a stripping tool frees a long length of heavy wire that sells as bright wire at the top rate. For thin flex, data and telephone cable the copper freed per minute is so small that selling it as cable is usually the better use of your time.
Can I burn the insulation off copper wire?
No. It is an offence under the Environmental Protection Act 1990 and the Clean Air Act 1993, the fumes are toxic, and yards downgrade or refuse burnt wire.
What is bright wire?
Clean, uncoated, untarnished copper wire with no solder, paint or insulation, thicker than about 1.3 mm. It is the purest grade of scrap copper and the one that pays most.
Do scrap yards take insulated cable?
Yes. It is graded by copper content, from thick single core cable at the top to thin data and telephone cable at the bottom, and paid accordingly. Armoured cable is graded on its own.
Can I get cash for copper wire?
No. Cash payment for scrap metal has been illegal in England and Wales since 2013. A licensed dealer records your ID and pays by bank transfer or cheque.
Sources
- ReMA scrap specifications, copper grades
- Environmental Protection Act 1990, section 33, prohibition on unauthorised treatment of waste
- Clean Air Act 1993
- Scrap Metal Dealers Act 2013, section 12, offence of buying scrap metal for cash
- Scrap metal dealer registration, GOV.UK
- British Metals Recycling Association