Specialist items
Fire extinguisher disposal
Time-expired and discharged units taken away and stripped for the steel and aluminium. One off a garage wall, or a pallet out of a building being stripped out.
An extinguisher that has been discharged is a metal bottle with a valve on top. The body is steel or aluminium, the valve assembly is usually brass or aluminium, and all of it is recyclable. The reason it feels like it ought to be complicated is that a full one is a pressurised vessel, and a pressurised vessel is a different proposition entirely.
So the whole of this page really comes down to one question: is it empty?
Making sure it is discharged
Most units have a gauge on the top. Needle in the green, there is still pressure in it. Needle in the red or on the pin, it is spent.
If it has a gauge reading green and you want it gone, the simple answer is to discharge it outside, away from anything you care about, pointing away from you, and let it empty completely. It is not difficult and it is quite satisfying. CO₂ units get extremely cold at the horn while they discharge, so hold the handle and not the metal.
If you are not comfortable doing that, or if you have a stack of them, say so — it is a normal thing to ask about and we would much rather you asked than guessed.
Where they come from
- Landlords and facilities managers, at the end of a service life
- Buildings being stripped out or changing use
- Garages, workshops and farms, where they accumulate quietly for decades
- Boats, caravans and motorhomes being broken or sold on
- Offices replacing a full set at once
Volume is usually either one, or thirty. Both are fine. A single unit will normally get taken as part of whatever else you are having cleared; thirty is a collection in its own right.
What we would rather you did not do
Put a full one in a skip, or in the household bin. Not because of paperwork — because it goes in a compactor with everything else, and a sealed pressurised cylinder in a compactor is somebody else’s very bad afternoon.
The same goes double for anything that is a genuine gas cylinder rather than an extinguisher. LPG, propane, patio gas and acetylene bottles are not extinguishers and we do not take those; they need somebody set up for them, and acetylene in particular is not something to be casual about. If you are not sure which you have got, send a photo of the label and we will tell you.
Getting them gone
Photo of what you have, rough count, and where they are. If they are discharged it is a straightforward collection; if they are not, we will talk about that first.
How it works
Three steps. No site visit.
Send a photo
WhatsApp a picture of whatever needs shifting. No need to tidy it first or guess the weight.
Get a price
A straight number back, usually the same day. The real price for your actual load.
It’s gone
We turn up, load it, sweep up, and you get the paperwork showing where it went.
The money bit
What actually decides what we pay
Nobody likes “it depends”. Here is what it actually depends on, so you can work out roughly where you stand before you ring anyone.
01
What it weighs
The base of it. Weighed on scales you can read, in front of you — not estimated in a back office and written on a docket afterwards.
02
What grade it is
The widest variable by a distance. Bright copper and burnt copper are the same metal and nowhere near the same price. Light iron, heavy scrap and non-ferrous are three different numbers, and keeping them apart is what moves yours.
03
How clean it is
Everything attached that is not the metal comes off the weight that counts — motors in a pile of steel, plastic housings, timber, the foam bonded to a modern cylinder. You do not have to strip it. It just prices as what it is.
04
Whether we collect it
Bringing it in yourself is worth more than having it collected, because collection is a vehicle and a driver. On a decent load the difference is real; on a boot full of oddments it is not worth the fuel.
Why there’s no price list on this page
Because scrap prices move with the metal markets, and they move weekly. Any figure printed here would be out of date before most people read it, and a website quoting last month’s rate is not being transparent — it is being wrong in a direction that never seems to disadvantage whoever published it.
Send a photo of what you have got and you will get today’s number for your actual load. Payment is by bank transfer, because paying cash for scrap has been illegal in this country since 2013 — anyone offering you notes is telling you something about how the rest of their business runs.
More scrap metal
Light iron
Radiators, appliances, bed frames, gates, mixed steel. The everyday grade.
See more →Heavy scrap & shearing
Plate, beam, rail and axles. Anything that has to be cut before it can move.
See more →
Non-ferrous
Copper, brass, lead, aluminium. Sorted properly, because that is what makes it pay.
See more →FAQ
Straight answers
Does it have to be empty?
Yes. A discharged extinguisher is a metal bottle and that is straightforward. A full one is a pressurised vessel, which is a different proposition. Gauge in the red or on the pin means it is spent.
How do I discharge one safely?
Outside, away from anything you care about, pointing away from you, until it stops. CO2 horns get extremely cold, so hold the handle rather than the metal. If you would rather not, or you have a stack of them, just say.
Do you take gas bottles as well?
No. LPG, propane, patio gas and acetylene are not extinguishers and need somebody set up for cylinders — acetylene especially. If you are not sure which you have, send a photo of the label.
What areas do you cover?
Wymondham and everywhere down the A11 and A47 — Norwich, Attleborough, Thetford, Diss, Long Stratton and across into Suffolk to Beccles and Bungay. If you are not sure, just ask.
Is it all done legally?
Yes. We are a registered waste carrier and licensed scrap dealer, every load comes with a waste transfer note, and our registration numbers are on every page of this site so you can check them before you ring.
How quickly can you come?
Often the same week, sometimes the same day if we are passing. Tell us where you are and you will get the honest answer rather than the one that gets us the booking.