Scrap grades
Light iron
The everyday grade. Radiators, appliances, bed frames, gates, mixed steel — most of what comes out of a house or a shed is light iron, and it is still worth something.
Light iron is the trade name for thin steel. Anything with a bit of a section to it — sheet, tube, pressed panels, the leg of a bed frame — as opposed to the thick, dense stuff that has to be cut before it can move.
It is by far the most common thing we collect, because it is what a normal building is full of.
What counts
- Radiators — steel panel rads, the ones that come off in every boiler swap
- White goods: washers, dryers, cookers, dishwashers
- Bed frames, filing cabinets, lockers, shelving and racking
- Gates, railings, fence panels, corrugated sheet, old guttering
- Garden machinery, mowers, wheelbarrows, swing frames, trampolines
- Ducting, tanks, tin baths, and the general contents of a shed roof
The quick test at home is a magnet. If it sticks and the metal is thin, it is light iron. If it sticks and you cannot lift your end of it, that is heavy scrap. If it does not stick at all, it is non-ferrous and worth considerably more, so it is worth checking before it goes in the pile.
Out of a house, and out of a yard
These are the same grade and two completely different jobs.
From a house, light iron usually turns up mixed into something else — a garage clearance, a boiler swap, a garden that has had a fence taken down. You do not need to separate it out first. We will pull the metal out as we load, and its value comes off the price of the clearance rather than quietly into our pocket. On a job that is mostly metal, that can bring the price down a long way. Occasionally it goes the other way and we pay you.
From a yard or a unit, it is usually already a pile, and the question is just how often it needs to leave. That is a trade collection.
What changes the price
Weight, and how clean it is. Clean light iron is steel and nothing else. What pulls it down is everything attached to it that is not steel: motors, plastic housings, timber, insulation, concrete in the feet of a post.
You do not need to strip anything — for most household loads it is not worth your afternoon. But if you have already got it separated, say so, because it prices differently and there is no reason for you not to get that.
Prices move with the steel market, weekly. That is why there is no figure on this page. Send a photo and you will get the real number for your actual pile.
On the job
What this actually looks like
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
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 →Batteries
Lead-acid off cars, vans, plant and standby sets. Collected loose or by the pallet.
See more →FAQ
Straight answers
What actually counts as light iron?
Thin steel. Radiators, white goods, bed frames, filing cabinets, gates, corrugated sheet, garden machinery. If a magnet sticks and the metal is thin, that is light iron.
Do I need to strip the motors and plastic out?
Not for a household load — it is not worth your afternoon. It prices as what it is. If you have already separated it, say so, because then it prices differently and there is no reason you should not get that.
Is a single radiator worth collecting?
On its own, rarely. As part of a clearance or alongside other metal, yes — and its value comes off the price of the job rather than quietly into our pocket.
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.