Difference in scrap price between pvc insulated twin & stripped cable.

[WarwickApp]

I’ve got a hell of a lot of scrap cable in my garage. I know it would take a long time but is it financially beneficial to strip the cable or does it not make much difference?

 

[Lister1987]

Consensus tends to be <6mm don't strip, above that do. SWA keep the steel and that copper

 

[DPG]

There was a good thread about this a few days ago. Have a search and it will give you some good info.

 

[Dustydazzler]

I strip everything and once I have a bin liner full of stripped copper wire I take it to the new scrap merchants near me

 

[Rockingit]

Bright copper is around £4.50 - £5 per Kg, PVC covered cable is around £1.50ish. So big stuff is worth the stripping!

 

[Rockingit]

There's also an eco element to this, too. Copper is an ultimately limited natural resource that we have to dig devasting mines to extract, so make sure you do recycle it, however it is, waste as little of it as possible to start with, and design that lighting circuit in 1mm not 1.5........

 

[Dustydazzler]

There's also an eco element to this, too. Copper is an ultimately limited natural resource that we have to dig devasting mines to extract, so make sure you do recycle it, however it is, waste as little of it as possible to start with, and design that lighting circuit in 1mm not 1.5........

when I started we always wired lighting in 1mm and for some reason everyone got obsessed with wiring lights in 1,5

i have recently reverted back to 1mm lighting as 1.5 is blooming expensive

 

[ipf]

I've never kept the steel from swa...is it worth it?

 

[telectrix]

I've never kept the steel from swa...is it worth it?

about £70 a ton.

 

[polaroid]

I think it comes down to how much time you have. Scrap value vs hourly rate then probably 4/6mm+ strip it.

I personally think we need to recycle a little better though, I'd imagine the stuff that doesn't get stripped won't make it back in to cables and will eventually push the price up. You can argue that little bit won't make a difference but even with half the guys stripping a little more it'll certainly add up. Plus you have the enviromental inpact, it'll take a lot of enrgy to process unstripped cable.

again, it's all about time/money/enviromental concerns