Non-ferrous metal recycling is the collection, grading, and processing of metals that contain little or no iron, including copper, aluminum, brass, stainless, and lead, which are priced by grade and weight against market indices rather than handled as waste. Blue Revive grades to industry specifications, weighs on certified scales, and settles transparently. To review a scrap program, contact us.
What Is Non-Ferrous Metal Recycling?
Non-ferrous metals are metals without significant iron content, which is why they do not rust and why they hold recycled value far better than most materials. Copper, aluminum, brass, bronze, lead, zinc, nickel alloys, and stainless steel all fall into the category. They can be melted and re-melted without meaningful loss of properties, which is why non-ferrous scrap is bought as a commodity rather than accepted as waste.
The practical consequence is that non-ferrous material generated by your operation is inventory, not garbage, and it is priced by three variables: grade, weight, and cleanliness. A gaylord of clean bare bright copper wire and the same weight of insulated wire with connectors attached are entirely different products with entirely different settlement values, even though both are "copper."
That is where most facilities lose money. Material gets thrown into one container because sorting takes time, and the whole load settles at the price of its lowest-value component. Contamination works the same way: a clean aluminum load with steel brackets left attached is no longer a clean aluminum load. The difference between sorted and unsorted material on a recurring program is usually large enough to justify the container space and the few minutes of labor.
Typical commercial sources include manufacturing offcuts and production scrap, electrical and mechanical contracting work, demolition and renovation, facility maintenance, HVAC replacement, and infrastructure removal from IT projects. Cable pulls and rack removal during IT decommissioning generate meaningful copper and aluminum volume that is routinely written off as waste.
What We Accept
Grading follows industry practice as set out in the Recycled Materials Association (ReMA, formerly ISRI) scrap specifications, which is the common language buyers and sellers use to describe material. The table below covers standard commercial generation.
Materials Recovered & End Markets
Non-ferrous recycling is genuinely circular in a way most material streams are not, and the end markets are established rather than aspirational. The table below shows where each material typically goes.
Recycled non-ferrous metal requires substantially less energy to produce than primary metal from ore, which is why demand from mills is stable and why the material carries real market value rather than a disposal cost.
Regulated Materials & Handling
Most non-ferrous scrap is not regulated waste, but several common items are, and they cannot simply be added to a load.
Batteries. Lead-acid and lithium-ion batteries are regulated under federal hazardous waste rules or the universal waste rule at 40 CFR Part 273 depending on chemistry and jurisdiction. Lead-acid has an established recovery path. Lithium-ion is handled separately and never bulk-commingled, because damaged cells can enter thermal runaway and a fire in a container or a truck is a serious event.
Transport of lithium cells. Regulated under DOT 49 CFR, shipped under UN3480 or UN3481 depending on whether cells travel alone or with equipment, with additional restrictions on damaged cells.
Lead. Lead scrap and lead-bearing material carry handling and worker exposure considerations, and shielding, sheet, and weights should be identified rather than mixed into general non-ferrous.
Sealed units and refrigerants. Sealed compressors, chillers, and HVAC units require refrigerant recovery under Clean Air Act Section 608 by certified technicians before the unit is processed. Sealed units arriving without evidence of recovery cannot be accepted into a general stream.
Transformers and capacitors. Older units may contain PCB-bearing dielectric fluid regulated under TSCA. Anything of uncertain age or origin should be identified before collection.
Coated, painted, and treated material. Some coatings affect both grade and handling. Cadmium plating and certain treated stock require assessment rather than assumption.
Material of uncertain origin. Legitimate scrap operations verify that material is lawfully held. Documentation of ownership for commercial loads is routine practice and protects the seller as much as the buyer.
Our Process
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Material assessment and program design. We review what your operation generates, in what volume and mix, and how it currently gets handled. This determines container types, placement, pickup frequency, and how much sorting is worth doing at source.
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Container placement. Containers are matched to the material and the site: roll-offs for volume, self-dumping hoppers or gaylords for sorted grades, drums for small high-value material, and lugger boxes where space is tight. Sorted material needs separate containers, which is the practical constraint on how far sorting can go.
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Sorting at source. Material is separated by grade as it is generated, when separation costs almost nothing, rather than after the fact when it costs considerably more. Keeping clean copper out of a mixed container is the single highest-return habit in a scrap program.
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Scheduled or on-call collection. Collection runs on a schedule for steady generation or on call for project work and irregular volume. Frequency is set against how fast containers fill, since hauling partial loads erodes the value of the material inside them.
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Weighing on certified scales. Inbound loads are weighed on certified scales, with gross, tare, and net recorded on the ticket. The weight ticket is the document everything else rests on.
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Grading and inspection. Material is graded against industry specifications and inspected for contamination, attachments, and material that does not belong. Downgrades are identified and explained rather than applied silently, because a seller who cannot see why a load graded down cannot fix it next time.
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Settlement and reporting. Settlement is calculated by grade and net weight against the applicable market reference for the settlement period, and the statement shows the grades, weights, and basis rather than a single undifferentiated figure.
Logistics, Weights & Settlement
How pricing works. Non-ferrous scrap prices track published market references such as COMEX and the London Metal Exchange, adjusted for the grade, the processing required, and the freight to move it. Prices move daily. Any vendor quoting a fixed per-pound rate that never changes is either building in a margin large enough to absorb the volatility or planning to reprice quietly at settlement.
What drives the number you receive. Four things, in roughly this order: grade (what the material actually is), cleanliness (attachments, coatings, contamination, moisture), net weight after tare, and freight (distance and load density). A full, sorted, clean load moving a short distance settles at a materially different rate than a partial mixed load moving a long one.
Weights. Loads are weighed on certified scales with gross, tare, and net recorded. Where material is picked up in your containers, tare weights are established and documented so the deduction is verifiable rather than asserted.
Container types. Roll-off containers suit volume and demolition-scale generation. Self-dumping hoppers and gaylords suit sorted grades at production points. Drums suit small high-value material such as clean wire or brass fittings. Lugger boxes suit constrained sites. Container mix is part of program design, since the wrong container encourages commingling.
Freight economics. Load density matters as much as weight. Bulky, low-density material such as uncompressed wire or ductwork costs more per pound to move, which is why on-site handling sometimes pays for itself. This is worth modeling for recurring programs rather than absorbing indefinitely.
Coverage. Blue Revive is headquartered in Buford, Georgia and supports collections nationally through a reverse-logistics network, covering both recurring programs and project-driven volume. See areas we serve.
Compliance & Documentation
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Weight tickets, recording gross, tare, and net by load, on certified scales
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Grade breakdown, showing what settled at which grade and why, including downgrades
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Settlement statement, calculated against grade, net weight, and the applicable market reference
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Collection records, tying material to origin site and date
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Downstream documentation, covering the mills, smelters, and processors receiving each stream
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Regulated-material records, where batteries, lead, sealed units, or other controlled fractions were included
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Diversion reporting, for material recovered rather than disposed, usable as an input to environmental reporting
Scrap recovered from decommissioning and construction projects frequently belongs in the same reporting as the rest of the project. Where a program spans IT retirement, facility work, and infrastructure removal, the records can be consolidated rather than issued piecemeal. Solar racking and mounting hardware follow the same recovery logic and are covered under solar racking and balance of system.
Frequently Asked Questions
How is non-ferrous scrap priced?
By grade and net weight against published market references such as COMEX and the London Metal Exchange, adjusted for processing and freight. Prices move daily with the underlying commodity markets, so settlement reflects the market at the time rather than a fixed rate. A grade breakdown showing what settled where is standard on the statement.
What is the difference between bare bright and No. 2 copper?
Purity and preparation. Bare bright is clean, uncoated, unalloyed copper wire of a minimum gauge with no insulation, oxidation, or attachments, and it is the highest-value common copper grade. No. 2 copper is lower purity, typically with solder, paint, oxidation, or attached fittings, and settles accordingly. The gap between the two is significant enough that separating them at source is almost always worth the container.
Do we need to sort material ourselves?
No, but it usually pays. Mixed loads settle toward the value of their lowest-value component, so a load with clean copper mixed into general non-ferrous does not receive clean copper pricing. Sorting at the point of generation costs very little; sorting afterward costs considerably more. Program design typically starts by identifying the two or three separations that return the most for the least effort.
What contaminants reduce the value of a load?
Attached steel, plated or coated surfaces, insulation left on wire, moisture, dirt, concrete, and non-metallic attachments such as plastic fittings and rubber. Anything that has to be removed before the material can be melted reduces what the material is worth. Downgrades are identified at inspection with the reason given, so the same loss is avoidable next time.
Can you place containers at our facility?
Yes. Roll-offs, self-dumping hoppers, gaylords, drums, and lugger boxes are matched to the material and the site, with collection scheduled or on call depending on how quickly containers fill. Sorted grades need separate containers, so container mix is part of program design rather than an afterthought.
Do you handle batteries and sealed units?
Batteries are handled as a separate regulated stream by chemistry and are never mixed into general non-ferrous. Sealed units such as compressors, chillers, and HVAC equipment require refrigerant recovery under Clean Air Act Section 608 by certified technicians before processing, so they should be identified in advance.
What documentation comes with settlement?
A weight ticket recording gross, tare, and net, a grade breakdown showing what settled at each grade, a settlement statement showing the calculation basis, collection records, and downstream documentation covering where the material went. Diversion figures suitable for environmental reporting can be included.
Review Your Scrap Program
Most facilities are leaving value in the container rather than losing it at settlement. Clean copper mixed into general non-ferrous, wire scrapped with the insulation on, aluminum downgraded by attachments left in place: the losses are ordinary and they compound over a year. A short assessment of what your operation generates and how it is currently containerized is usually enough to identify the two or three changes that matter. Contact us to review a scrap program.
Call us at 678-554-5630, email info@bluerevive.co, or visit our office at 4540 Atwater CT, STE 107, Buford, GA 30518.
