A washing machine and a coil of copper pipe are both "scrap metal." In Durham they are opposite errands. The washer is a few dollars of steel, if a yard wants it. The copper is the only common household metal that reliably pays for the gas. This is how to tell them apart, where the public yards are from Pickering to Beaverton, and when the free curb or a hired trailer beats the cheque.
Prices below are what was posted on the day we read them. Boards move. Call the yard before you load the truck.
What actually pays
A magnet is the whole economics lesson. If it sticks, it is steel or iron, and it is cheap. If it does not, it is likely copper, brass, aluminum, or stainless, and it is worth sorting into its own bin.
| Metal | What it looks like in a house | What it was paying |
|---|---|---|
| #1 copper | Clean pipe or wire, no paint, no solder blobs, no brass fittings | $7.60/lb posted at one Whitby yard on 28 September 2026 |
| #1 insulated wire | Copper wire with the plastic still on | $5.00/lb at the same yard, same day |
| Yellow brass | Clean yellow fittings, valves, some hardware | $4.91/lb at the same yard, same day |
| Brass faucets | The tap still assembled | $0.80–$1.80/lb on that board — a different grade from clean brass |
| Aluminum | Siding, extrusions, clean sheet, rims | $0.80/lb on an Oshawa index updated 23 August 2026 |
| Steel | Bed frames, appliances, fencing, studs, hot water tanks | $0.10/lb, $230 a tonne, on that same index |
The copper, wire, and brass figures are ANJ Recycling's board in Whitby on 28 September 2026. Their page prints a second number beside each grade. Treat the lead number as that day's posted price and ask at the scale what the second figure means before you unload. The steel and aluminum figures are an Oshawa index updated 23 August 2026, not a yard's offer. Generic "copper" on that index was $4.18 a pound — a blended number, which is why one website and one yard can disagree by dollars on the same week.
Ten pounds of #1 copper at $7.60 is $76. Ten pounds of steel at $0.10 is $1. That is the whole decision.
A washer is on the order of 70 kg. Even if a yard paid the index steel rate on every kilo, which it will not, because of the motor, the plastic, and the drum, you are looking at a small bill, then an hour, then the gas. In six of the eight municipalities the Region will take that washer from the curb for nothing.
Beer cans are a deposit, not scrap
An alcohol can of 1 litre or less carries a 10 cent refund under the Ontario Deposit Return Program. Cans over 1 litre are 20 cents. As of 1 January 2026, licensed grocery stores have to take empties back as well as The Beer Store.
A typical empty can is light enough that it takes about thirty of them to make a pound. At the August index price of $0.80 a pound for aluminum, that pound is 80 cents at a yard and about $3 in deposits if they are beer cans. Take alcohol cans back for the deposit.
Pop, juice, and energy-drink cans have no Ontario deposit. They belong in the blue box. A yard will buy aluminum cans in quantity, and the per-can number is still a couple of cents.
Where to take it
These are public yards whose own pages we could read. Hours and phone numbers are theirs. None of them is our facility, and a posted price is not a promise past the day you call.
| Yard | Address | Hours | Phone |
|---|---|---|---|
| ANJ Recycling | 2001 Thickson Rd S, Unit 10, Whitby | Mon–Fri 9:00 a.m.–5:25 p.m., Sat 9:00 a.m.–1:55 p.m. Closed holiday long weekends | 905-576-9777 |
| Whitby Industries | 280 Hopkins St, Whitby | Mon–Fri 8 a.m.–5 p.m., Sat 8 a.m.–1 p.m. | 905-766-4646 |
| AIM Recycling | 140 Dowty Rd, Ajax | Mon–Fri 8 a.m.–6 p.m., Sat 8 a.m.–4 p.m. | 905-686-1771 |
| APICK Scrap Metal | 695 Finley Ave, Unit 13, Ajax | Mon–Fri 8 a.m.–5 p.m., Sat 8 a.m.–noon | 905-426-5781 |
| Port Perry Salvage | 173 Reach Industrial Park Rd, Port Perry | Mon–Fri 8 a.m.–6 p.m., Sat 8 a.m.–2 p.m. | 905-985-6121 |
ANJ posts a daily board and is the one with a number you can read before you leave the house. From Thickson Road South, turn east on Wentworth, north on Scotia Court, and use the second driveway. Whitby Industries buys ferrous and non-ferrous, e-waste, and scrap cars, and rents bins. AIM's Ajax page lists hours and a public counter; call 905-686-1771 for the day's price, because they do not post one. APICK has been on Finley for years and asks you to call ahead for appliances. They buy aluminum, brass, copper, lead, steel, stainless, iron, and automotive batteries, and they do not want household batteries.
Port Perry Salvage buys steel, iron, copper, brass, aluminum, stainless, lead, appliances, and vehicles. Drop-off does not need an appointment. Their FAQ says they pay cash and do not require ID, and that you sign when you are paid. They will not take wood, cardboard, rubber, propane tanks, acetylene or oxygen tanks, lithium-ion batteries, or fire extinguishers. Other yards set their own ID rules, especially on copper. Bring a driver's licence anyway, and sell only metal that is yours.
By municipality
- Whitby. Both Whitby yards are in town. The Town's own collection is a poor fit for anything heavy: $27 covers up to twelve items, and every item has to be under 20 kg. A washer, stove, or hot water tank misses that cap. Those go to a yard or on a trailer.
- Ajax. AIM on Dowty and APICK on Finley. The Region also collects metal goods free, with no item limit, by appointment.
- Pickering. The closest confirmed public yards are those two in Ajax. The Region collects metal goods free here too.
- Oshawa. We could not confirm a public yard inside the city with current hours, so the short drive is to Thickson or Hopkins in Whitby. The City's Large Item Collection takes appliances and scrap metal free, inside a six-item booking. Curb, dump, or hire is the comparison when the pile is more than metal.
- Clarington. No public yard turned up in Bowmanville, Courtice, or Newcastle. Courtice and Bowmanville are a Whitby drive. Newcastle and Orono are a similar trip to Port Perry. The Region collects metal goods free, with no item limit, which is the right answer for appliances and a fence you have already cut to length.
- Scugog and Port Perry. Port Perry Salvage is in town. The Region's facility at 1623 Reach Street also takes scrap metal, and it charges you. Details below.
- Uxbridge. The confirmed yards are in Whitby, Ajax, and Port Perry. It is a drive from Goodwood or the village. The Region collects metal goods free.
- Brock. Port Perry Salvage is the closest confirmed Durham yard for Beaverton, Cannington, and Sunderland. The Brock waste facility accepts scrap and charges for it.
The Region's metal-goods rules for Ajax, Pickering, Clarington, Uxbridge, Scugog, and Brock are on the metal goods page: appointment only, at the curb before 7 a.m., no item limit, a separate truck from the garbage. Fencing and swing sets have to be dismantled and bundled in lengths of four feet or less. Doors off appliances. Tanks drained. Our curbside lookup has the Oshawa and Whitby exceptions in the same place.
The dump charges you
Scrap metal is on the accepted list at the Regional waste facilities, and it is not on the free list. The published rates are $7 for a load up to 40 kg, $175 per tonne after that, and $20 on top for anything with refrigerant — fridges, freezers, air conditioners, dehumidifiers. Debit or credit only. Tuesday to Saturday, 8 a.m. to 4 p.m., with Tuesdays until 6 p.m. from the first Tuesday in May to the first Tuesday in October.
- Oshawa: 1640 Ritson Road North
- Scugog: 1623 Reach Street, Port Perry
- Brock: C22480 Brock Sideroad 17
The Clarington depot on Bowmanville Avenue is household hazardous waste only. It is the right place for a propane tank, paint, and oil, and the wrong place for a bed frame. Miller Waste on Squires Beach Road in Pickering sets its own rates; the Region tells you to call them at 905-426-4222 before you go. Do not assume they pay for metal.
So the order, for ordinary steel you are allowed to put out, is: the curb costs nothing, a yard pays a little and takes your afternoon, the dump sends you a bill.
How to get the better grade
Sort before you leave. A brass faucet still on a steel sink gets paid as the cheap thing in the pile, or as the faucet grade, which on ANJ's board was a fraction of clean yellow brass. Pull the copper pipe off the fittings if the fittings are brass. Keep insulated wire in its own container. Steel in another.
Leave the plastic on the wire. Burning insulation off to "make it bare bright" fouls the copper, and yards downgrade or refuse burnt wire. It is also a bad fire. Cut the wire off the device and let the yard weigh it as wire.
Drain water heaters and washers. Take the propane cylinder off a barbecue and take the cylinder to a hazardous-waste depot, not the scale. A fridge still charged with refrigerant needs a certified recovery before anyone shreds it. That is the $20 at a Regional facility, passed through at cost if we haul it. Appliance disposal has the curb rules for fridges beside the mattress rules.
Cars, converters, and kegs
We do not tow. An end-of-life car is a yard job. Whitby Industries and Port Perry Salvage both buy vehicles. Sell the car whole. The catalytic converter is the valuable part of that car, and it is also the part people steal. A loose converter is something a careful yard will ask about. If you are parting out a car you own, bring the ownership. If you found a converter, it is not yours to sell.
A beer keg belongs to the brewery. Return it where it was rented. The deposit on the keg is the payment, and selling the keg as brass is selling someone else's property.
When the cheque is the wrong goal
Hire the trailer when any of these are true:
- The metal is mixed with furniture, bags, drywall, or a basement you also need empty. Pull the clean copper aside if you want the cheque, and let the rest go in one load.
- You have no truck, or the metal is up a flight of stairs.
- You are in Whitby and the item is over 20 kg, so the Town will not take it.
- You are in Oshawa and you are already at six items, or the pile is renovation waste the City refuses. Plumbing fixtures are on the City's metal list; drywall and construction wood are not.
- The fence is still in the ground, or it is longer than four feet and you do not want to cut it. Rural Clarington, Pickering, and Brock jobs are full of this.
We charge the same published rates as any other Durham job, before HST: $109–$169 for a single item, $209–$309 for a quarter trailer, $379–$489 for a half, $629–$799 for a full 15-yard trailer. We do not buy the metal from you, and we do not knock the scrap value off the invoice. If the load is clean copper you can lift into a car, the yard is the better math. If someone has to carry it, the yard's cheque rarely covers the labour.
What we cannot take still applies: hazardous waste, asbestos, fuel, and vehicles stay off the trailer. Paint and propane go to the hazardous-waste depot for free.
A few pipes and a room of junk, or a yard of fencing you are done looking at: send photos. If the photos are clean copper and nothing else, we will tell you to take it to the yard.
Frequently asked questions
We run junk removal across Durham Region — Oshawa, Whitby, Ajax, Pickering, Clarington, Uxbridge, Scugog, and Brock. We price jobs from customer photos so the number you're told is the number you pay.