Western Scrap Processing - Recycling Center in Colorado Springs, CO

Very informative and helpful. Explained the whole process well and helped to identify types of scrap and how to prepare it for best payout.

I have been a loyal customer of Western scrap for over 20 years and have scraped probably 10 tons per year however I WILL NEVER USE THEM AGAIN! Over the last couple years they have Miss categorized lots of my scrap to pay me less than they should and treated me less than expectable. I overlooked all this because they paid more than others. However after my last trip I WILL NEVER DO BUSINESS WITH THEM AGAIN!!! I had a small load that was mixed with item's I wanted to scrap and others I wanted to keep. Long story short some of my keep items came out with the scrap. When I attempted to retrieve said item's I was called a lier and told I could not keep "have" them because the yard guy didn't physically see me throw them out. It is aperantly company policy that even if it's your own personal property you cannot pick it up off the ground unless the yard guy sees you remove it from your vehicle! My total load paid $42.00. total scrap value of my personal items they refused to let me keep was approx 20 cents. Retail value to replace said items about $50.00. So in the end I literally lost 8 dollars not counting my time and fuel. In closing it has come to my attention (after speaking with the owner) about the time I noticed poor encounters with Western scrap was the same time as the American iron buy out!

They are friendly and always very helpful. If you've never been there and are unsure of what to do when you get there just park your car on the right side of the parking lot. That is for customers. Remember the right side! If you park on the left you'll hear one of the lovely ladies from upstairs call out to you over the load speaker and tell you the first rule of thumb at the scrapyard. "RED (or whatever color vehicle you have) TRUCK YOU CAN'T PARK YOUR TRUCK THERE! THAT'S FOR EMPLOYEES! PLEASE PARK ON THE RIGHT SIDE ONLY!" The speaker is loud and can be very intimidating but the ladies are just helping you to learn the ropes. Despite the way they sound over the loudspeaker they really are nice ladies who work up in the office. If you have questions the office is your first stop. Park your vehicle on the right go towards the building walk past the recycling garage door walk past the big scale and the stairs to the office are just past that go up one flight of stairs and there you will meet the beautiful and friendly ladies of the scrapyard. They will happily answer your questions. If you have just steel you can drive up and onto the scale the ladies will tell you when it's okay to drive on into the yard to drop all your steel. As you're driving into the yard that's where you'll be greeted by the big and burly yet handsome friendly men of the yard. They will direct you on where to back up to drop your load of steel. Don't let that fool you though. These guys won't put up with any funny business. Make sure your grills are empty of ashes and washers and dryers are empty too unless of course they are packed with more steel items. No other trash inside is allowed or they will make you take all the trash out and put it back in your truck! Don't think you can sneak it by either because they will be watching for just those kinds of things. This is a metal recycling plant not a dump. There are some things they will not take for example; box springs because they tear up their shredders. Cut it up into very small pieces yourself and they will. They won't take fridges or air conditioners unless you have them tagged by a professional saying that the freon was disposed of properly. And absolutely no TVs or monitors. Unless you're turning in just the metal inside them. The rest keep at home or taken to an electronic recycling center. Which brings me to the last part of this topic. The recycling center. There you can take metals like aluminum copper or brass. It pays you a bit more per pound than steel. However many factors are taken into consideration. First you must have a minimum of one pound. They then consider the grade of the specific metal. For example a screen door that's free of all screws and any other steel and wood parts will get you more per pound than an aluminum lamp stand. Just because the grade of the aluminum they use is higher in the door than compared lamp. Remember though you must clean your recyclables if you want the best price for that grade metal. Just one steel screw will knock you down a couple of price notches and they'll call it dirty. That could mean a few cents or more difference in the total they'll give per pound in the end. You won't get the full price. Also you will need your ID and your vehicle tag number to turn in any scrap here so come prepared. They won't let you slide on that either. Taking in an unusually large load of copper brass wire etc? Be prepared to hand them a note giving you proper authorization to turn it in or give them the address of where you got it when you got it and the name of who permitted you to take it. They will be happy to check for you. The hours are between 8 and 4 and the recycling closes at 3:45 so get there early. They are closed on all national holidays but call just in case. Sometimes they'll close early the day before the holiday. Hey they work hard and they need time off too! Now go get your scrap metal and let's head to Western scrap recycling! The highest overall payout in town for scrap metal!