Scrap Copper Prices in Australia
Copper is by a wide margin the highest-value common scrap metal in Australia. A clean, sorted kilogram of copper pays more than ten times what an equivalent weight of steel pays — and far more than any other base metal regularly handled in residential and trade scrap. Because of that price gap, copper rewards careful sorting more than any other metal, and the difference between a bare bright and a #2 grade can be 30% on the same wire.
30-day price trend
Copper grades and Sydney payouts (per kg)
Estimated yard payouts in Sydney. Other cities adjust by ±5–20% depending on transport distance to smelters.
| Grade | Payout rate | Est. mid (AUD/kg) | Range |
|---|---|---|---|
| Bare Bright Copper Stripped, uncoated copper wire of 16 gauge or thicker, with no oxidation or tarnish. Pays the highest price of any common scrap. | 78% | $13.95 | $11.85 – $16.04 |
| #1 Copper Clean, unalloyed copper that may have minor oxidation. No solder, paint, or attachments. | 70% | $12.52 | $10.64 – $14.39 |
| #2 Copper Copper with some tarnish, soldered joints, paint, or light contamination. Still valuable but pays less than clean grades. | 58% | $10.37 | $8.81 – $11.93 |
| Insulated Copper Wire Copper wire still wrapped in plastic or rubber insulation. The yard pays based on estimated copper content after stripping. | 25% | $4.47 | $3.80 – $5.14 |
Where to sell copper
Payouts vary by city based on transport distance to smelters and ports. Sydney sets the national benchmark; remote cities pay less.
How copper is graded
Australian scrap yards work with four common grades of copper, in descending order of payout: bare bright, #1, #2, and insulated wire. The grade you walk in with determines the rate paid, and the visual differences can be subtle but the price gaps are not.
Bare bright is the cleanest grade: stripped, uncoated, untarnished copper wire of 16 gauge or thicker, with the bright pink-orange shine of freshly cut metal. It must be free of any insulation, paint, solder, or oxidation. The “bright” in the name is taken literally — if it looks dull, it’s not bare bright. This grade typically pays 75-80% of the LME spot price.
#1 copper allows minor surface oxidation and tarnish but otherwise matches bare bright’s purity requirements. Clean tubing, clean roofing copper, and heavier-gauge wire with some patina fall into this category. The discount versus bare bright is 5-10%.
#2 copper is where most household plumbing and motor scrap lands. Soldered joints, light paint or coating, mixed wire gauges, or pieces with attached steel fittings all drop the grade here. Yards pay roughly 70-75% of the bare bright rate for #2.
Insulated wire is copper still in its plastic, rubber, or fabric jacket. Yards estimate the copper recovery percentage and pay based on that — typically 25-40% of the bare bright rate for standard household cable. Heavier feeders with thick insulation pay slightly better; thin appliance cords pay worse.
The grade of a load is decided on inspection at the weighbridge. Yards have discretion. Visibly mixing grades on a single load tends to produce a “lowest common denominator” rate across the whole lot, so sorting before drop-off pays for itself quickly.
Where copper comes from in Australian homes
Copper ends up at scrap yards through several predictable pathways, and knowing where it hides is half the battle.
Electrical wiring is the largest single source. Australian domestic wiring uses TPS cable (twin and earth sheathed) almost universally, which is roughly 50% copper by weight at the standard 2.5mm size. Older houses with significantly higher copper content per metre were rewired through the 1980s-90s as plastic-sheathed cable became standard. Demolition and rewiring jobs are the typical source.
Plumbing in pre-2000s homes used copper pipe extensively. Hot water lines especially used copper because of its corrosion resistance. PEX and other plastics have largely replaced copper in new builds since the early 2000s, but renovation jobs still routinely unearth substantial copper runs.
Electric motors in household appliances — fridges, washing machines, dishwashers, pool pumps, fans — contain copper windings ranging from 0.3kg in small motors up to 5-7kg in commercial pool pumps. The motors are typically the heaviest part of any appliance after the steel cabinet.
Hot water cylinders built before the early 1990s often used a copper inner tank inside a steel outer jacket. These are increasingly rare but extremely valuable — 15-20kg of #1 copper sits inside each one. Modern cylinders use stainless steel inner tanks; check with a magnet (copper is non-magnetic).
HVAC and refrigeration systems use copper refrigerant lines and copper-aluminium heat exchanger coils. Whole split-system outdoor units typically contain 3-4kg of #2 copper. Old commercial chillers can carry 50kg or more.
Roofing and rainwater goods on heritage buildings — particularly older churches, public buildings, and high-end residential — used copper sheet for flashings, gutters, and decorative elements. These are typically painted, which drops them to #2 grade, but the volumes can be significant on demolition jobs.
A useful instinct: anywhere electricity flows or heat moves through pipework in an older building, copper is somewhere nearby.
Frequently asked questions
What's the difference between bare bright and #1 copper? +
Bare bright is clean, uncoated, untarnished copper wire of 16 gauge or thicker — it has the bright, shiny finish of freshly stripped wire and pays the highest price of any common scrap. #1 copper is clean copper that may have some surface oxidation or tarnish but still has no solder, paint, plating, or attachments. The visual difference is striking: bare bright glints almost pink-orange in the sun; #1 copper has a duller, browner cast. Yards pay 5-10% more for bare bright.
Is it worth stripping insulated copper wire myself? +
For thicker cables — TPS, extension cords above 15A, large gauge feeders — yes, stripping roughly doubles the per-kilogram return. Manual stripping is slow; a $40 cable stripper from a hardware store pays for itself in a single afternoon of larger cable. For thin appliance leads and small-gauge wire, the labour usually exceeds the price difference.
Why is copper plumbing pipe sometimes graded as #2 instead of #1? +
Solder joints. Most old copper plumbing has lead-tin solder at every connection, which contaminates the copper as far as yards are concerned. Yards either grade it as #2 outright or charge a 'dirty copper' adjustment. Cutting out the joints and selling them separately as 'mixed brass and solder' is rarely worth the time for a residential load, but worth knowing for larger commercial demolitions.
Does paint on copper drop the grade? +
Yes. Painted copper — common on heritage roof flashings and gutters — drops to #2 grade because the paint contaminates the melt. Mechanical paint stripping is possible but slow; chemical stripping is generally not worth the cost. Yards accept it as-is at the #2 rate.
What's 'copper-coated' steel and how do I tell the difference? +
Some welding wire and earthing rods are steel wire with a thin copper coating. They look like solid copper but a magnet will stick — solid copper is non-magnetic. Always magnet-test mystery copper-looking wire before bringing a load to the yard. Mixed copper-coated steel sold as copper can get you blacklisted from a yard.
How much copper is in a typical old electric motor? +
Rule of thumb: 25-35% of the motor's total weight is copper, in the form of stator windings and rotor bars. A 25kg industrial motor yields roughly 7-9kg of #2 copper after the steel laminations are separated. Worth disassembling for motors above 5kg; below that, sell as a whole 'electric motor' at the yard's blended rate.