Anyone here involved in scrap metal/scrapping cars?

[BruceV8]

Hi Guys,

We had a couple of guys come around to collect four scrap cars. They paid us £50 a car and of course will get more for them when they weigh them in - I believe steel is at £100 a tonne or thereabouts. They were self employed and said they used to run a garage, but were getting much more money with much less stress just collecting scrappers and buying and selling the odd decent car. They seemed to be having a great time and this set me thinking.

So, my questions are:

Can anyone go and buy a recovery truck and get on with it or is there more to it behind the scenes?

Where do they find the cars, other than pinning adverts on lamp posts? (which is how we found them)

Is this something thats worthwhile as a part time business while having a day job?

Is the price of steel likely to stay up? I gather its being driven by demand from China.

Am I just having a bad attack of 'the grass is greener'?

Thanks in advance for any advice.

[Adam T]

No harm in trying. Had many a car removed from properties I have Bought, usually find some sort of local geezer/hard man come and take them away - and I kid you not, they are usually called Dave. - I wouldnt want you to muscle in on any of there patches!

[Liszt]

Tricky one.
I think that you'll need somewhere to store them, unless you are just selling them on to a metal merchant. As a result you'll need to have a enviromentally and council approved location. You may need a special licence to move some cars as they can be deemed a hazardous load.

Will you be de-polluting them yourselves? Are you prepared to go up against the pikeys for the metal? Do you like dags?

[BruceV8]

I think if I did this I'd just be picking them up and running them straight to one of the bigger scrap yards. No intention of de-polluting them or anything like that. I'd like to keep it simple.

Dags? Yeah I like dags!

Edited by BruceV8 on Monday 12th May 17:58

[StevieBee]

BruceV8 said:

I think if I did this I'd just be picking them up and running them straight to one of the bigger scrap yards. No intention of de-polluting them or anything like that. I'd like to keep it simple.

Dags? Yeah I like dags!

Edited by BruceV8 on Monday 12th May 17:58

It’s not that straightforward!

The proportion of recyclable material (not just steel) in cars has been steadily rising since the early 90s. Most post 2000 cars comprise about 80% - 90% recyclable material.

You are right that steel is at a premium at the moment and likely to stay that way for a while yet. Other materials too including plastics (PET = around £200 a tonne) are also in high demand.

Collecting scrap cars may make some money but tie that in with ELV strip downs and trading the recyclate and there’s big bucks to be made.

To do it legitimately, you need a host of licences from Hazardous Waste Permits, Waste Carrying, Waste Transfer…..etc. H&S is a big thing too. Waste processing has very high levels of injury and fatalities so expect hefty insurance premiums.

As with all things, the greater the effort, the greater the reward. There is a shortage of ELV (End of Life Vehicle) processors and good money to be made. It’s becoming very difficult for unlicensed operators to exist so legit is the way to go.

Chartered Institute of Wastes Management (www.ciwm.co.uk) runs courses and accreditation services.

www.letsrecycle.com is a good starting point for legislation, current recyclate prices, etc.

I have many contacts if you’re serious.