Do you buy scrap metal from the public?

No. We don't buy loose copper, aluminum, brass, appliances or catalytic converters. We buy whole junk and scrap cars, and we sell processed scrap metal.

Can I come to your yard and pick through the scrap?

No. Smart Scrap Metal Buyers is a service-area business with no public yard or drop-off, so metal orders are arranged directly.

How do I ask about buying scrap metal?

Use the contact page and tell us the metal, rough quantity and timing. The quote form on this page is only for people selling a car.

Is your scrap metal priced by the pound or the ton?

It depends on the metal and the quantity, and scrap prices move with the markets. Ask for a quote on the amount you need.

Scrap metal for sale in Chicago

Smart Scrap Metal Buyers sells processed scrap metal in Chicago. It's the other half of what we do: we buy scrap cars, and we sell metal. Buyers reach us through the contact page. The form beside this is only for people selling a car.

Ask about scrap metal

Selling a vehicle instead?

This form is for vehicle sellers only. Buying metal? Use the contact page.

Where to buy scrap metal in Chicago

Smart Scrap Metal Buyers sells processed scrap metal to buyers in Chicago and the surrounding area. Tell us which metal you need, roughly how much and by when, through our contact page. We're a service-area business with no public yard, so orders are arranged directly instead of picked from a pile.

Availability changes from week to week, so the honest first step is a short enquiry rather than a catalogue. We'd rather tell you straight what we have than list grades we might not be holding that week.

A grapple lifting a bundle of scrap metal beside stacks of baled scrap

What "processed" scrap metal means

Raw scrap is mixed: steel stuck to plastic, copper wrapped in insulation, aluminum bolted to iron. Processing is the work that turns it into something a mill or foundry can buy. The Recycled Materials Association (ReMA) describes recyclers using "shredding, shearing, and other techniques to process the material for use in steel mills."

The first split is ferrous against nonferrous. ReMA's own test is the simplest one: hold a magnet to it, and if it sticks, it's iron or steel. Aluminum, copper and brass don't stick, sell as separate commodities and carry their own prices.

Scrap steel for sale

Steel is the bulk of the scrap trade. ReMA reports that U.S. steel mills consumed more than 60 million metric tons of recycled material in 2019 to make 87 million metric tons of steel. Scrap steel is sold in named grades set out in industry specifications; No. 1 busheling, for example, is clean new-production steel no more than 12 inches in any dimension, and it's the grade behind CME Group's Chicago scrap futures contract.

If you're buying scrap steel, say what it's for and what size and cleanliness you need. That tells us quickly whether what we have fits.

What to include in your enquiry

The metal: steel, aluminum, copper or another metal, and the form you want it in.
Roughly how much, by weight or by load.
When you need it.
Where in the Chicago area you are.

Then send it through the contact page. Prices for scrap metal follow the markets; our note on why scrap prices move explains what drives them.

Looking to sell metal instead?

We're not the right call for loose metal: we don't buy copper, aluminum, brass, appliances or catalytic converters from the public. If what you have is a whole car, that's different. We buy junk, wrecked and scrap cars with free towing and payment at pickup; start with scrap car recycling or the form at the top of this page. It's how we work both sides as a scrap metal business in Chicago.

Buying scrap metal: questions

Do you buy scrap metal from the public?: No. We don't buy loose copper, aluminum, brass, appliances or catalytic converters. We buy whole junk and scrap cars, and we sell processed scrap metal.
Can I come to your yard and pick through the scrap?: No. Smart Scrap Metal Buyers is a service-area business with no public yard or drop-off, so metal orders are arranged directly.
How do I ask about buying scrap metal?: Use the contact page and tell us the metal, rough quantity and timing. The quote form on this page is only for people selling a car.
Is your scrap metal priced by the pound or the ton?: It depends on the metal and the quantity, and scrap prices move with the markets. Ask for a quote on the amount you need.