Scrap yards in Sandwell

How many yards, and where they are

Sandwell has 38 licensed sites on the register. The median across the 163 English authorities with any yards at all is 5, so this is one of the denser areas in the country. Concentrations like this usually sit near an industrial estate, a river wharf or a former manufacturing belt, and they matter to a seller because competing yards within a short drive is what gives you somewhere else to call.

Within Sandwell the listings cluster around West Bromwich, with more at Smethwick, Oldbury, Cradley Heath. Use the town buttons above the map to filter, or the location button to sort by distance from wherever you are.

5 of these licences are due for renewal within the next twelve months. That is normal rather than a warning: site licences run for three years and are routinely renewed. It matters only because a lapsed licence means a yard cannot lawfully buy from you, so this page drops entries the register no longer carries.

Nearest alternatives

Two yards in the same town frequently differ by more than a week of market movement, so a second quote is worth more than a better day. These authorities are closest by road distance from the middle of Sandwell.

• Dudley 7 km · 14 yards
• Wolverhampton 9 km · 12 yards
• Walsall 9 km · 20 yards
• Birmingham 9 km · 29 yards
• South Staffordshire 16 km · 3 yards

What you need to bring, and why

Selling scrap in England and Wales is governed by the Scrap Metal Dealers Act 2013, which came into force on 1 October 2013 and became enforceable that December. It replaced a patchwork of older law after metal theft was costing the UK economy an estimated £770 million a year. Every yard on this page holds a licence under it, issued by Sandwell council.

Three rules affect you directly as a seller.

Cash is not an option, and has not been since 2012

The cash ban came into force on 3 December 2012, ahead of the Act itself. A dealer may pay by crossed cheque, electronic bank transfer or an approved prepaid card, and nothing else. Paying cash carries a fine of up to £5,000 per offence.

The practical consequence: bring your bank details, and expect payment to clear rather than arrive in your hand. A yard offering you cash is breaking the law it is licensed under, which tells you something about the rest of its practice.

You must be identified

The dealer has to verify your name and address before buying. Either photographic ID that also carries your full residential address, or photo ID plus a supporting document. A passport or photocard driving licence satisfies the first part; a bank or building society statement, a utility bill or a council tax document satisfies the second.

Failing to verify a seller costs the dealer up to £5,000 per offence, so this is not a formality they will waive. Turning up without ID means turning around.

The transaction is recorded and kept

Dealers record what they bought, from whom, when, and what they paid, and retain those records for three years. Police can inspect them. This is the traceability the Act was built for, and it is why the trade looks more bureaucratic than it did fifteen years ago.

You do not need a licence to sell your own scrap occasionally. The licensing regime applies to dealers, not to a household clearing a garage or a tradesperson disposing of offcuts from their own work.

What happens at the weighbridge

The process is much the same at every licensed site, and knowing the order of it helps you spot where a payout goes wrong.

• You are weighed in. On a vehicle load, the yard weighs the vehicle full and again empty; the difference is your load. On a small non-ferrous lot it goes on a platform scale.
• The material is graded. This is where most disputes actually originate, not at the scale. A mixed load is paid at the lowest grade present, so a single length of tinned or soldered wire in a clean pile can regrade the whole pile.
• Deductions are applied. Insulation and contamination come off wire; tyres and fluids come off a vehicle. Ask what was deducted and why before you sign, because once the load is tipped and mixed with other stock there is nothing left to re-weigh.
• ID and payment. Identification is recorded, then payment goes to your account.

The scale itself must be legal for trade, tested and sealed by an authorised technician. If you doubt a reading, ask to see the seal and its inspection date before the load is tipped. The scale guide covers what to look for.

What scrap pays in United Kingdom today

Yards in Sandwell price against the same national market. These are indicative reference prices per kg, derived from the exchange settlement and a local market factor, not offers from any yard on this page.

Full United Kingdom price board, including every grade and how yards there quote.

Before you drive

Three things worth confirming on the phone, because any one of them can waste the trip.

• Whether they take your material. A licence to deal in scrap metal does not mean a yard accepts everything. Batteries, tyres, appliances with refrigerant and undocumented catalytic converters are commonly refused.
• Whether there is a minimum weight, particularly on non-ferrous.
• What identification they need. Under the Scrap Metal Dealers Act 2013 a dealer must verify your identity, and paying cash for scrap is unlawful. A yard offering cash is not licensed to do so.

The minimum load calculator works out whether the trip is worth making, and the grade finder settles what you are actually carrying before you arrive.

Where these listings come from

Every yard here holds a scrap metal dealer site licence issued by its local authority and published on the Environment Agency's public register. Licences are shown with their expiry date, and expired entries are removed when the register updates.

Mobile collectors are not listed. The register records them without a location because they operate from a vehicle rather than a site, so a locator cannot place them accurately. That is roughly half of all licence holders, and their absence here is deliberate.

Listings are refreshed weekly against the register, last verified 2026-09-07. Opening hours and accepted materials are not published in the register; where a listing shows them, they come from the yard's own site. Confirm by phone before travelling.