Scrap Metal
It's one of the more lucrative items to sell. At some scrap yards, you can get over $2 per pound for copper and 40 to 70 cents per pound for aluminum.
With a market rate of $0.55 per pound, you'd need around 182 pounds of aluminum cans to earn $100. This equates to about 6,000 cans.
Aluminum cans is by far the most valuable to recycle. Glass containers probably next.
Aluminum beverage cans are roughly 32 cans per pound. So at 50 cents a pound, you would need around 1,250 to 1,300 cans to make 20 bucks.
It depends where you live, which recycler, scrap yard, you are dealing with and their profit requirement, and market values. So at roughly 1/2 oz per can, that is at least 32 per pound. At maybe 35 cents per lb you would need about 30 lbs = about 900 cans to make 10.00.
Older aluminum cans are generally heavier than newer ones, so older cans are more valuable. Scrap yards may not pay as much per can as bottle bill collection centers, so don't expect 5 cents a can. However, it can still be worth the time to collect and recycle cans, especially if you have access to a lot of them.
In selective US states, deposit incentive per piece varies from $0.05 to $0.10. If $0.075 is taken as the average number, the approximately 13.3K bottles or cans need to be deposited in order to make $1,000 out of them.
How Much is a Garbage Bag Full of Cans Worth? A large, industrial-sized garbage bag can fit between 300 to 400 aluminum cans. If redeemed for 5 cents per can, you'd earn around $15 to $20 per bag.
Five cents today is worth only a third as much as it was in 1982. To earn just $5, barely enough to afford a meal, you have to collect 100 containers. That's 100 instances of finding and collecting, not to mention carrying everything you've gathered to a redemption center.
It takes about 30 recycled cans to make one dollar. However, this number can vary depending on the type and quality of the recycling center. So if you're looking to recycle your cans for some quick cash, it's best to check with your local center for an estimate.
The weight of a can fluctuates with various brand designs, but they tend to be around a half-ounce per can. At an average of 56 cents per pound, that makes a single can worth about 1.8 cents. At that rate, you could make about $20 for about 1,000 cans (or 84 12-packs of 12-ounce cans).
In general, consumers are better off recycling by count if the CRV containers are smaller and/or lighter, since that means more containers per pound. However, if they are larger and heavier – meaning fewer containers per pound – recycling by weight will sometimes earn a larger refund.
Radioactive and hazardous materials should never be recycled to the same standards as metals. That's because if a scrap yard melts any radioactive metal without knowing, it will end up contaminating the rest of the metal, the equipment that is used during the recycling process.
Recycling aluminum cans can earn you between . 25 to . 50 cents a pound which means if you have a 100 pounds you could earn around $50. I would collect cans from the trash and even walk side ditches to pick them up because most people wouldn't take the time so recycle them.
So for recycling either 34 cans or about 1,500 tabs, you'll get about $1.00. Rates for recycled aluminum vary widely, so you should not always expect those rates. You can search the Internet or your local phone directory for scrap dealers who will pay you cash for recycled aluminum.
An aluminum can recycled today will be back on the grocery shelf in about 90 days! Twenty years ago, it took 19 aluminum cans to make one pound, but today's aluminum cans are lighter and it now takes 29 cans to make a pound! That means less aluminum is wasted, saving energy and other environmental resources!
Scrap Metal
One of the most profitable materials to recycle is scrap metal. That's why, scrap metal theft is quite common and there even have been reports of community recycling dumpsters raids in search of metal. Some of the most common scrap metals you can recycle for cash are copper, aluminum, and steel.
If you can earn between five and ten cents per bottle, to make say, $100, you will need around 1000 bottles. This can be very time consuming. It's also important to know the rules of your local center. For example, some centers want the lids off and even labels, so that's important to understand.
On average, you can get paid a little over $0.50 per pound of aluminum, with states like Michigan and California paying out close to $0.10 per can. That's $3.20 a pound just for recycling a bunch of cans! It's true, it's easier than you think to make money recycling.
Recyclables are often sorted by shape, meaning that aluminum cans, milk jugs and juice cartons are more likely to be properly recycled if they retain their original dimensions. A flattened aluminum can, for example, would be harder for a machine to recognize because of its smaller total surface area.
If you make $1 per lb, you need 2200 cans to make $100. From a scrapyard, you likely need double that, with 4400 cans. And if you make $2 per lb in a bottle bill state, you'll only need half, which is still 1100 cans.