Selling industrial scrap: weighing, paperwork and common mistakes.

Before you call anyone

Three things done in advance change the price you will be offered.

Segregate

Separate by material, and within material by grade and colour. Ferrous from non-ferrous; copper from brass from aluminium; PP from HDPE from PET. Pull out the PVC. Pull out the engineering plastics. If you are not sure what you are looking at, our guides on plastic codes and ferrous vs non-ferrous cover the field tests.

Do this at the machine, with labelled bins, rather than as a sorting exercise before a sale. Sorting a heap later costs labour that comes out of your rate.

Store it properly

Under cover, off the ground, dry. Water adds weight you will not be paid for and invites a contamination discount. Film and paper degrade fast outdoors.

Know roughly what you have

An approximate weight and a clear description. You do not need precision — you need enough that a buyer can decide what vehicle to send.

Describing material so quotes are comparable

The single most common reason quotes vary wildly is that each dealer has pictured something different. Give everyone the same information:

• What it is — material and grade, as precisely as you can
• Approximate weight
• Form — loose, bagged, baled, drummed, whole units
• Condition — clean, oily, painted, wet, mixed
• What was in it, for containers — food, chemical, oil
• Location and access — can a vehicle reach it, is loading help available, are there gate timings
• Photographs — as it is actually stored, not a tidied sample

Photographs are worth more than any description. Send the pile as it stands. A buyer who quotes on a flattering photograph will revise the number at collection, which helps nobody.

The weighing

This is where disputes happen, and nearly all of them are avoidable.

• Watch it. Have someone from your side present. This is normal and no reasonable buyer objects.
• See the scale zeroed before loading starts.
• Understand tare weight. If the vehicle is weighed loaded and empty, be clear on which figure is which, and that nothing changed in between.
• Agree deductions in advance. If moisture or contamination allowances apply, settle the number before the material moves.
• Keep the slip. Take a photograph of the weighbridge ticket.

For larger or recurring loads, a public weighbridge removes the question entirely. The small cost is worth it on any load of real value.

Paperwork and GST

Scrap sales are ordinary business transactions and should be documented like any other sale. For a registered business, that means a proper tax invoice recording the material, weight, rate, value and the applicable tax, plus a transport document where required.

Two practical points. First, scrap attracts GST, and the rate depends on the material and its classification — metal, plastic, paper and e-waste are not all treated the same way. Second, the treatment can also depend on whether the supplier is registered, and there are specific provisions for metal scrap in particular that have changed in recent years.

What we would say, from the buying side, is this: insist on the invoice. A dealer offering a marginally better rate "without paperwork" is offering you a problem. Undocumented scrap income is awkward at audit, breaks your input-output reconciliation, and leaves you with no recourse if the weight or payment is disputed.

Payment

• Agree the terms before collection — on delivery, on weighment, or within a stated number of days.
• Prefer bank transfer for anything substantial. It creates a record that matches your invoice.
• Match payment to the weighbridge slip before you sign anything off.
• For regular supply, set a settlement cycle rather than negotiating each load.

Seven recurring mistakes

1. Treating scrap as waste disposal. If nobody in the business owns the scrap line, it will be sold badly. Give it to someone.
2. Selling mixed to save sorting time. The discount for mixed material is almost always larger than the labour saved.
3. Never re-testing the market. The dealer you have used for eight years may still be the best. Checking once a year costs two phone calls.
4. Ignoring what is inside equipment. Motors, transformers and panels contain copper worth well above the assembly's scrap weight.
5. Letting material sit outside. Degradation is silent and permanent.
6. No records. Without a log of weights and rates you cannot tell whether this month's price was good.
7. Mixing regulated streams into general scrap. E-waste, batteries and contaminated containers carry obligations. Putting them in the general pile does not discharge those obligations.

Turning it into a standing arrangement

If you generate scrap continuously, a one-off sale is the wrong model. A standing arrangement typically gets you a better rate, because the buyer can plan vehicles and commit volume onward. A reasonable arrangement covers:

• Which materials, and the grade standard expected
• Collection frequency, or a trigger quantity
• How the rate is set — usually indexed, since fixed prices cannot survive a volatile market
• Weighing method and where
• Payment terms
• Documentation, including anything you need for regulatory records

Keep a simple log — date, material, weight, rate, amount. After six months you will know exactly what your scrap line is worth, and whether your buyer is treating you well.

Talk to us about a regular collection

We buy across Thiruvallur, Kadambathur, Thiruninravur, Tiruttani, Avadi, Poonamallee, Uthukottai, Periyapalayam, Gummidipoondi and Ponneri, and we weigh openly and invoice properly.