Estimate what your aluminum could be worth by grade, weight, and condition before you take it to a recycling center.
Empty cans, kept separate from other aluminum.
No meaningful deduction applied.
Separate cans, sheet, cast pieces, extrusions, wheels, and radiators. Remove steel, rubber, plastic, glass, fluid, and nonmetal attachments when practical. Ask your local yard which preparation steps change its grade.
This is a planning estimate, not a purchase offer. Yard prices vary by region, volume, alloy verification, contamination, and market conditions. Call before loading a large quantity.
Find a local recycling centerMultiply 200 pounds by the buyer's quote for your specific aluminum grade. At an example $0.50 per pound, that is $100 before deductions. At $0.75 per pound, the same weight is $150. Use the quote for cans, cast aluminum, wheels, or extrusions rather than assuming all aluminum earns one rate.
For cans, weigh the accepted load instead of multiplying by a fixed value per can: can weights vary. A bottle-deposit refund, where available, follows a deposit program's rules and is different from scrap value by weight. Confirm that the buyer accepts your material and ask how moisture, steel attachments, or contamination affect payment.
We updated common reference prices on 9/23/2026 using public U.S. yard boards. Local yards set their own payouts by grade and buyer. See current prices.
A load of aluminum is not one commodity. Cans, extrusions, cast parts, sheet, wheels, and radiators have different processing costs and often receive different prices. Sorting before you go helps you understand the estimate and can make the check-in process easier.
Some items that look like aluminum contain copper, steel, plastic, or fluids. Do not use this calculator for aluminum and copper radiators. Keep mixed-metal items separate and ask the yard for its current grading rules.
Aluminum scrap value depends on the grade, alloy, cleanliness, and local buyer. Clean extrusions and wheels generally bring more than mixed or dirty aluminum. Can and 6063 prices in this calculator were checked on public yard boards October 19, 2026. The other grades are still the August 2026 reference list. Your local payout can differ.
Clean architectural extrusions, clean wheels, and properly sorted alloys can earn more than mixed sheet or dirty aluminum. Aluminum and copper radiators are a separate mixed-metal grade and should be kept apart from aluminum-only radiators.
Usually, yes. Removing steel, rubber, plastic, glass, fluids, and nonmetal parts can help a buyer grade your load as cleaner aluminum. Confirm the requirements with your chosen yard before spending significant time on preparation.
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