recyclers will not buy burnt copper

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rt66electric

Senior Member
Location
Oklahoma
I normally save all of my scrap then burn it on my brothers 'out in the sticks' brush/burn pile.. I have just learned that the local metal recycle shops will NOT buy burnt copper??? I have about +300LBs sitting/waiting for the price to go up. They will buy wire with insulation still on for chump change.
who ya going to call???
 
Have you tried any other scrap dealers?


Flex said:
Cant you strip it the old fashioned environmentally friendly way?
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I guess stripping the wire and throwing the insulation in the garbage so it can be buried for hundreds of years in a landfill somewhere is better than burning it but I'd hardly call it environmentally friendly.
 
rt66electric said:
I normally save all of my scrap then burn it on my brothers 'out in the sticks' brush/burn pile.. I have just learned that the local metal recycle shops will NOT buy burnt copper??? I have about +300LBs sitting/waiting for the price to go up. They will buy wire with insulation still on for chump change.
who ya going to call???
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lesson learned: stop burning plastic!

Either cut the insulation off like most of us do, or be lazy and take it in with the insulation on and get less money.

~Matt
 
TOOL_5150 said:
lesson learned: stop burning plastic!

Either cut the insulation off like most of us do, or be lazy and take it in with the insulation on and get less money.

~Matt
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When you burn it you ruin it's value, the recycle yard can't get anyone to buy it, I have seen them take loads of burnt cable to the dumps.
 
satcom said:
When you burn it you ruin it's value, the recycle yard can't get anyone to buy it, I have seen them take loads of burnt cable to the dumps.
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Yeah, Burning the insulation off never crossed my mind till I read it here. I would still never do it. When i get some off time [wich is abundant these days] I just get a few sharp blades and strip anything #10 and up. Its really not that hard and goes quick once you get the hang of it.

~Matt
 
Uh.....um....well....I once heard if you "quench" the copper with a water hose after you burn it, while it is still hot, it will remove the "burnt" look. It is not bright shiney, but not charcoal looking either....just saying....:D
 
satcom said:
When you burn it you ruin it's value, the recycle yard can't get anyone to buy it, I have seen them take loads of burnt cable to the dumps.
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JacksonburgFarmer said:
Uh.....um....well....I once heard if you "quench" the copper with a water hose after you burn it, while it is still hot, it will remove the "burnt" look. It is not bright shiney, but not charcoal looking either....just saying....:D
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Do you people live in India????

  1. Lead is used as a plasticizer for conductor insulation - if you burn it, be sure to stand right in the smoke.... Just wash your clothes with your children's clothes... (Sarcasm in both statements :roll: Don't do that - since it seems we need to state the obvious.)
  2. Burning metal ends up as vapor - which you/we breath.
  3. Air-born metal vapors cause 'mental retardation' - make you STU-PID....
  4. Heat is an oxidizer to metals - Copper-oxide is worthless - it destroys purity.
  5. Copper becomes porous when heated - little holes - see above.
  6. Oxidized copper with charred insulation from plastics ends up coming back in poor quality wire with no QC to remove it - QC's cost money and drive up the cost of processing what will become our wire again.
 
They still buy the burned stuff round here. Have yo ever noticed though how badly they cut you weight wise for the insulation? Last time I cashed some in I got 35% of the weight value..now I know there is labor involved, but to cut the weight 65% was a bit stout. (It was all modern, none of the black oily stuff, plus no jackets.)

c2500
 
powerslave said:
I guess stripping the wire and throwing the insulation in the garbage so it can be buried for hundreds of years in a landfill somewhere is better than burning it but I'd hardly call it environmentally friendly.
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That would be a lot better.

e57 said:
Do you people live in India????
  1. Lead is used as a plasticizer for conductor insulation - if you burn it, be sure to stand right in the smoke.... Just wash your clothes with your children's clothes... (Sarcasm in both statements :roll: Don't do that - since it seems we need to state the obvious.)
  2. Burning metal ends up as vapor - which you/we breath.
  3. Air-born metal vapors cause 'mental retardation' - make you STU-PID....
  4. Heat is an oxidizer to metals - Copper-oxide is worthless - it destroys purity.
  5. Copper becomes porous when heated - little holes - see above.
  6. Oxidized copper with charred insulation from plastics ends up coming back in poor quality wire with no QC to remove it - QC's cost money and drive up the cost of processing what will become our wire again.
Click to expand...
Well said, thanks!
 
Maybe state or fed EPA;s have rules the prohibit recyclers from accepting burnt copper for legitimate reasons.
 
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