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If you're a plumber, you're sitting on scrap metal more often than you might realise. Old pipework, offcuts from first fix, redundant cylinders, brass fittings, lead flashing pulled during a re-roof — it adds up over a year, and most of it is genuinely valuable if it's sold properly rather than binned or left with a skip.
Here's what's worth knowing about the material you're already handling.
The materials plumbers most commonly scrap
Copper pipe and offcuts. Copper is the highest-value material most plumbers deal with day to day. Clean, uncoated copper pipe (often graded as #1 copper) commands a strong price, and even smaller offcuts and trimmings add up across a job.
Brass fittings and valves. Brass — an alloy of copper and zinc — is commonly found in fittings, valves, and older tap fixtures. It's lower value per kilo than pure copper but still worth collecting rather than discarding, particularly from bathroom or kitchen strip-outs.
Lead. Old lead pipework (common in pre-1970s properties) and lead flashing from roofing work are both scrappable. Lead is dense and heavy, so even a modest amount by volume can weigh — and be worth — more than expected.
Old cylinders and tanks. Copper hot water cylinders, in particular, are a solid source of scrap value once decommissioned, since the copper content is significant relative to the size of the unit.
Common mistakes that cost plumbers money
Mixing materials together. Chucking copper, brass, and lead into the same skip or bag means it gets valued as mixed scrap rather than at each material's proper individual price. Keeping materials separated, even loosely, protects the value of the higher-grade metals.
Not weighing before offering it up. Buyers set prices per kilo, but without an approximate weight, it's hard to get a meaningful quote — and harder to sense-check whether an offer is fair.
Accepting the first offer. Just like getting quotes for a job, it's worth comparing more than one buyer for anything beyond a small offcut pile. A single yard has no reason to volunteer that their price is below what someone else would pay.
Treating it as waste rather than a resource. It's easy to think of pipe offcuts and old fittings as something to clear rather than something to sell — but across a year of jobs, that material has real cumulative value.
A simple system for collecting scrap on the job
- Keep a separate bag or bin in the van for copper, another for brass, another for lead — even rough sorting on-site saves time and protects value later.
- Take a few photos as you go, especially for anything unusual (old cylinders, larger offcuts) so you've got a record when it comes to listing or quoting.
- Batch it up rather than making small trips — most buyers are set up to handle a proper load efficiently, and it's a better use of your time than several small drop-offs.
Turning it into actual income
Once you've got a batch worth listing, the simplest way to find out what it's actually worth is to put it in front of more than one buyer. On ScrapBays, you list your material with photos and approximate weight, and verified buyers bid competitively for it — so you're not stuck accepting whatever one local yard happens to offer that day.
List your scrap metal on ScrapBays or check current copper, brass and lead prices before your next job. Sell on ScrapBays →