About copper scrap
Copper grading is essentially a question of what else is attached to the metal. Bare bright — clean, uncoated wire above about 1.5 mm with no insulation, solder or oxidation — is the top grade. Below that come heavy copper (tube, busbar, sheet), utensils and coated or tinned material, and finally insulated cable, which is bought on estimated recoverable copper rather than gross weight.
Motor and transformer windings are a category of their own. Copper winding removed from the steel core is priced as heavy copper; a whole motor is bought as a unit at a lower blended rate because we carry the dismantling cost. If you have several motors, ask us whether stripping them yourself is worth the labour — for small motors it usually is not.
Because copper is valuable and frequently stolen, we follow a strict intake policy on larger lots: seller identity is recorded and, for cable and utility-type material, we ask for proof of ownership or a works order. This protects genuine sellers as much as it does us.