A granulator turns cable you cannot strip into copper granules. On communication cable that is worth about $95 per 100 lb, which means a $3,000 entry machine needs roughly 3,200 lb of it to pay back, and a $30,000 machine needs 31,700. The question is not whether granulation works. It is whether you have the material, and stripping usually beats it when you do.
Granulation versus stripping
They are not competing options. They handle different cable.
Stripping removes insulation and leaves the conductor intact. The output is bare bright, the top grade on the board, currently $6.22 a pound. It works on thick single-conductor cable and fails on anything fine.
Granulation chops cable and separates copper granules from plastic mechanically. It handles the fine-strand, mixed and low-grade wire that stripping cannot touch. The output grades below bare bright, because a granule is not an intact strand, though good machines reach 99.9 percent purity.
So the rule is: strip what you can, granulate what you cannot. Most operations that grow end up running both, and a granulator does not replace a stripper.
What it is worth per pound
At current rates, assuming granulated copper realises around 90 percent of the bare bright rate:
| Material | Recovery | 100 lb as-is | 100 lb granulated | Gain |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Communication cable | about 48 percent | $174 | $269 | $95 |
| Romex sheathed cable | about 65 percent | $234 | $364 | $130 |
Communication cable is the case that matters, because it is exactly the material stripping cannot handle economically. The communication wire page carries the live rate.
One published industry figure for scale: processing a tonne of waste cable yields roughly 0.5 tonnes of copper and 0.3 tonnes of plastic.
The payback, worked honestly
Divide the machine price by the gain per pound.
| Machine | Price | Communication cable to pay back |
|---|---|---|
| Entry, 50 to 200 lb/hr | $3,000 to $10,000 | 3,200 to 10,600 lb |
| Mid-range industrial, 400 to 1,000 lb/hr | $10,000 to $30,000 | 10,600 to 31,700 lb |
| Production line, 1 tonne/hr and above | $30,000 to $800,000 | tonnage business only |
Those are material volumes, not time. A machine that processes 200 lb an hour still needs 3,200 lb of the right cable to break even, and if you see 200 lb a month it takes sixteen months regardless of how fast it runs.
Throughput is a capacity constraint, not a payback driver. Buy for the volume you have, not the volume the machine could handle.
The tiers, and what each is for
| Tier | Price | Capacity | Fits |
|---|---|---|---|
| Small bench | $2,998 upward | 30 to 150 kg/hr, single-phase 220V | Electricians, small yards, mixed low-grade wire |
| Compact commercial | mid four figures | around 400 lb/hr | Small to medium operations, low-grade and mixed scrap |
| Mid-range industrial | $10,000 to $30,000 | 400 to 1,000 lb/hr, 300 to 700 kg/hr | The sweet spot for small and medium recycling businesses |
| Large production | $29,999 to $800,000 | 700 kg/hr to 2 tonnes/hr | Yards and processing plants |
| Full line | six figures | 1 tonne/hr, pre-shredder plus dual separation | Turnkey industrial recovery |
The entry tier is genuinely accessible. Machines from around $3,000 run on single-phase 220 to 240V household electricity with a 3 kW motor, are portable, and handle rigid cable to 10 mm and flexible wire to 15 mm. That is a real option for an electrical contractor with accumulated offcuts.
The industry framing is worth quoting plainly: entry units at 50 to 200 lb an hour suit a small electrical contractor or hobbyist recycler and will not support a full-time commercial operation.
Specifications that decide the purchase
Cable diameter capacity. Entry machines take rigid cable to about 10 mm and flexible to 15 mm; a 400 lb/hr class unit handles up to roughly 9/16 inch. If you regularly get heavier cable, that decides the tier before price does.
Separation method and purity. Good machines use specific gravity or air plus vibration separation and reach 99.9 to 99.99 percent copper purity. Purity is what determines whether your output sells as clean granule or as contaminated material.
Power supply. Single-phase 220 to 240V at the entry level; three-phase and up to 480V, 200A on production lines. Check your supply before you check the price, because a machine you cannot power is not a bargain.
Dust handling. Granulation produces insulation dust. Better units include a cyclone dust collector and air filtration as standard; if a quote does not mention it, ask whether a separate system is required.
Granule size. Typical output is 2 to 3 mm particles.
When a granulator does not pay
Four honest cases, because this is expensive equipment.
You mostly handle thick cable. Strip it. Bare bright at $6.22 beats granulated output, and a stripper costs $40 to $290 rather than thousands. The wire stripping guide sets the tiers.
Your volume is occasional. At a few hundred pounds a year the payback runs into decades. Sell the fine cable insulated and spend the money elsewhere.
You have no space or power. These are not small machines above the entry tier, and three-phase supply is a real constraint.
You want it for one material. A granulator earns its keep on mixed low-grade wire, automotive harness and communication cable, which is the material nobody else wants to process. If that is not what arrives, it sits idle.
Where the material actually comes from
Worth knowing before you buy, because it determines whether the volume exists.
Automotive harness. Fine-strand and impossible to strip economically. Dismantlers generate it constantly.
Communication and data cable. Cat5, Cat6, phone cable. Recovery under 50 percent, which is precisely why stripping fails and granulation works.
Mixed and low-grade wire from demolition and clear-outs, where sorting by hand costs more than it recovers.
Some machines also handle radiators and small transformers, which broadens the material base if your intake includes them.
If you are buying material rather than generating it, the buyer routing guide covers why insulated wire is one of the categories where a processing capability changes what you can afford to pay.
Around the world
Machines are globally sourced, largely from Chinese manufacturers with US and European distribution, so pricing is broadly comparable across markets.
What changes is the arithmetic. The gain per pound is the gap between your local insulated rate and your local clean copper rate, and where a strong export market for insulated cable exists, that gap narrows and payback lengthens. Check your own two rates on the country pages before applying the US figures above.
The other variable is power. Single-phase entry machines are specified for 220 to 240V, which suits most of the world and requires a step-up in North American domestic settings.
To run this on your own volume, the stripping payback calculator works out the monthly gain at today rates and which machine tier it pays for.
The granulator payback calculator works out the material volume each tier needs at today rates, and says so when stripping is the better answer.
Questions people actually ask
When does a granulator beat a stripper?
On fine-strand wire, automotive harness and communication cable, where individual strands are too thin to strip economically. Stripping wins on thick cable because it preserves bare bright at $6.22 a pound against granulated output below that.
How much does a copper granulator cost?
From about $2,998 for a small single-phase bench unit to $10,000 to $30,000 for mid-range industrial machines at 400 to 1,000 lb an hour, and $30,000 to $800,000 for production lines.
What volume justifies buying one?
Divide the price by the gain per pound. At about $95 per 100 lb of communication cable, a $3,000 machine needs roughly 3,200 lb and a $30,000 machine needs 31,700 lb. Those are material volumes, not hours.
What grade does granulated copper fetch?
Below bare bright, because a granule is not an intact strand, though good machines reach 99.9 to 99.99 percent purity. Purity is what separates clean granule from contaminated output.
Can a granulator process Cat5 and phone cable?
Yes, and that is its main case. Recovery on communication cable is under 50 percent, which is exactly why stripping fails on it and why the separation efficiency of the machine matters.
Do I need three-phase power?
Not at the entry tier. Small machines run on single-phase 220 to 240V with a 3 kW motor. Mid-range and production machines need three-phase, and full lines specify 480V at 200A.
Does it need a separate dust extraction system?
Better machines include a cyclone dust collector and air filtration. Granulation produces insulation dust, so if a quote does not mention extraction, ask before buying.
How much copper comes out of a tonne of cable?
Published industry figures put it at roughly 0.5 tonnes of copper and 0.3 tonnes of plastic per tonne of waste cable, though the actual yield depends entirely on the cable mix.
Should I buy a granulator or a stripper first?
A stripper, almost always. It costs $40 to $290, handles the thick cable that yields the highest grade, and most operations discover their fine-wire volume only after they have been stripping for a while.
Machine prices and capacities are 2026 manufacturer and distributor figures and vary by specification, region and freight. Gain calculations use this site's live copper grade rates at the time of writing and an assumed granulated realisation of about 90 percent of bare bright; confirm what your own buyer pays for granule before relying on it.
Frequently asked questions
When does a granulator beat a stripper?
On fine-strand wire, automotive harness and communication cable, where individual strands are too thin to strip economically. Stripping wins on thick cable because it preserves bare bright at $6.22 a pound against granulated output below that.
How much does a copper granulator cost?
From about $2,998 for a small single-phase bench unit to $10,000 to $30,000 for mid-range industrial machines at 400 to 1,000 lb an hour, and $30,000 to $800,000 for production lines.
What volume justifies buying one?
Divide the price by the gain per pound. At about $95 per 100 lb of communication cable, a $3,000 machine needs roughly 3,200 lb and a $30,000 machine needs 31,700 lb. Those are material volumes, not hours.
What grade does granulated copper fetch?
Below bare bright, because a granule is not an intact strand, though good machines reach 99.9 to 99.99 percent purity. Purity is what separates clean granule from contaminated output.
Can a granulator process Cat5 and phone cable?
Yes, and that is its main case. Recovery on communication cable is under 50 percent, which is exactly why stripping fails on it and why the separation efficiency of the machine matters.
Do I need three-phase power?
Not at the entry tier. Small machines run on single-phase 220 to 240V with a 3 kW motor. Mid-range and production machines need three-phase, and full lines specify 480V at 200A.
Does it need a separate dust extraction system?
Better machines include a cyclone dust collector and air filtration. Granulation produces insulation dust, so if a quote does not mention extraction, ask before buying.
How much copper comes out of a tonne of cable?
Published industry figures put it at roughly 0.5 tonnes of copper and 0.3 tonnes of plastic per tonne of waste cable, though the actual yield depends entirely on the cable mix.
Should I buy a granulator or a stripper first?
A stripper, almost always. It costs $40 to $290, handles the thick cable that yields the highest grade, and most operations discover their fine-wire volume only after they have been stripping for a while.