How do I tell between dirty aluminum and clean aluminum? What kind of aluminum do I have?
Dirty aluminum can be caused by a range of materials being attached to the material such as insulation, steel bolts, lead weights, etc. Aluminum can also be classified as dirty when the bin or container or aluminum being recycled is contaminated with other materials such as steel. When any scrap yard is given “clean” aluminum that is mixed with “dirty” aluminum or non-aluminum materials, a “dirty” price will be given due to the labor associated with sorting or cleaning those materials.
Sheet Aluminum: Various sizes of aluminum that have typically been bent into a shape or structure, such as gutters and siding, frames for housing and windows, or even miscellaneous items such as lawn chairs (with the fabric removed), and lighter gauge pots and pans.
Cast Aluminum: Cast aluminum is created to extremely high temperatures, turning the metal into a molten liquid, then molded and cooled to create a wide variety of shapes, tools, and products.
Aluminum Wire: Not all wire is copper! If you are recycling some wire that is silver in color, use a magnet to see if it is a magnetic material or not. If it is not magnetic, it is most likely aluminum wire. Separate this from your copper material.
Aluminum Rims: You’ll often find aluminum rims on cars and trucks. Tires are never allowed on these rims and should always be removed before recycling. Always sort your rims separately if you want top dollar, optionally you can remove the lead weights if you want a higher rate. You can find more information about how to clean and sort your aluminum rims here.
Aluminum Extrusion: Aluminum extrusion is a process in which aluminum alloy material is pushed through a die with a specific cross-sectional profile. The process of aluminum extrusion can be compared to squeezing toothpaste from a tube, or playdough out of extruders or “fun factory play machines.” A powerful ram pushes the aluminum through the die and it comes through the opening in it’s ending form.
Aluminum MLC: One of the more unique types of aluminum to identify, aluminum MLC (mixed low copper) is clean bare aluminum solids. It will most likely take form in machine shop remnants, aluminum plate remnants, and solid aluminum remnants. In most cases, scrap of this kind would be leftover from some type of manufacturing process.
