Recycling electrical cables

[RWD3M]

I couldn't find anything of much help on t'interweb but I have a load of electrical cable (primarily offcuts of T+E) to get rid of. I suspect I could just drop it off at my local recycling centre but, is there a better option? can it be weighed in? would it need to be stripped of it's plastic sheath first? What do the electricians do with it?

IDK, all a bit new to me.

 

[Blobber]

Strip it, pvc in the bin, copper to the scrap yard, clean copper is worth weighing in

 

[dobbslc]

A bin liner full a couple of years ago was worth about £15 the prices have gone up lately. It's not worth stripping twin and earth cable unless you have nothing else to do!

 

[hotponyshoes]

£2.50/kg as it is or £7.85/kg stripped around my way at the moment.

 

[Erie Fred]

Fire is the method of choice of the bestest Meth Heads around here......

 

[brightspark]

Fire is the method of choice of the bestest Meth Heads around here......

yea then its value as its not grade 1 copper i have made a stripping machine that is ultrafast up to 35mm cable anything under 6mmm i dont bother its not worth the time .just send it in as is un stripped. can make more money an hour at work

 

[Barking Mat]

10 grand a ton for bright copper I believe.

I could be wrong.

Stealing kilometres of phone cables is a popular past time round here.

 

[Erie Fred]

yea then its value as its not grade 1 copper i have made a stripping machine that is ultrafast up to 35mm cable anything under 6mmm i dont bother its not worth the time .just send it in as is un stripped. can make more money an hour at work

The second part is they take old car batteries, and use the acid to clean the copper.....and then dump the burned ashes and toxic acid soup somewhere else.....

 

[northwest]

One of these if it's not too much cable:

Pardon our interruption...

You can buy electric versions.

 

[Anguz]

One of these if it's not too much cable:

Pardon our interruption...

You can buy electric versions.

That's silly cheap.. anyone got one?

 

[Agroshield]

That's silly cheap.. anyone got one?

I have an alternative version made of aluminium (looks identical to this: https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/354644577744)

Power with a cordless drill.

It is fussy on the adjustment so you need to sort the stuff first and put all 2.5mm conductors through as a batch, then 1.5mm conductors.

It does not work well on small multi-strand stuff (like real old red and black T&E).

It works a lot more efficiently on long lengths. If the OP has 25kg of 300mm lengths of cable, it probably is not worth the time to strip. The same weight of 1m offcuts would be worth it.

You need to manage the infeed and outfeed or you will be forever stopping to untangle things.

You need to figure out how to manage and dispose of the stripped-off insulation.

 

[RWD3M]

Thanks for the tips chaps.

I often have time on my hands (an hour here, an hour there) so may just sit and strip it!

I'll be interested to see how long it takes me to get a kilo, I may then rethink my strategy!

 

[Robotstar5]

We found night shifts were generally quiet so would strip cable and save it up over the year to be weighed in early December for a "Christmas box", normally worked out at a few hundred quid each

 

[Barking Mat]

We found night shifts were generally quiet so would strip cable and save it up over the year to be weighed in early December for a "Christmas box", normally worked out at a few hundred quid each

We did this once at work, then the workshop was burgled, it was the only thing they took.

 

[Melvyn Best]

Thanks for the tips chaps.

I often have time on my hands (an hour here, an hour there) so may just sit and strip it!

I'll be interested to see how long it takes me to get a kilo, I may then rethink my strategy!

That’s the sort of job I would do as a kid to earn some pocket money,

 

[RWD3M]

I'll have to see what Mrs RWD is prepared to offer!

 

[julianf]

Remember that, if you strip it, the price goes up, but your weight goes down.

If you look at the numbers it may not be worth the bother to strip it.

 

[Turbo]

I usually burn off the insulation. You get a bit less than the bright stripped wire price but a heck of a lot more than the unstripped price.

 

[Seadog]

Remember that, if you strip it, the price goes up, but your weight goes down.

A win-win situation then?