Laws & Legislation

Firstly let’s put these rumours to bed, scrap metal is worth MONEY, and ANYONE can exchange any metal for credit. The only change to the rules that concerns both householders and businesses is that you won’t be able to receive your credit in ‘cash’.

Most Scrap merchants are now paying people directly in to their bank accounts or giving them a cheque if they prefer. There is still plenty of value in metals, in particular in the non-ferrous market.

You do not need a special licence to get money for your metal

The only people who need to worry about scrap licences and trading regulations are people who earn a living by collecting and selling scrap metal. So if you have some metal to sell, whether it’s an old greenhouse you’ve just knocked down, an old car battery, or a big pile of copper left over from some plumbing work, simply SELL IT.

Identification

New laws do state that if you sell scrap metal you will need to produce identification. The simplest form of ID is a photo driving licence, this ticks all the boxes for the scrap merchants and you’ll rarely be asked for anything else. This ID is highly unlikely to be reviewed by anyone else, unless the metal turns out to be stolen.

If you don’t have a driving licence, just ensure you have your passport plus proof of your address. A photo, and proof of address are the 2 key bits of information you’ll need to legitimately weigh in your scrap.