Scrap Cable & Wire Buyers
We buy all types of scrap cable — PVC, armoured, stripped wire, overhead line, and more.
About Scrap Cable & Wire
Cable and wire recycling is one of our busiest categories. Electricians, building contractors, and demolition teams bring us everything from new offcut cable to old armoured SWA from building strip-outs. You don't need to strip cable — we'll grade and pay for it as-is. Stripping your cable does get you a better rate, but it's your choice.
Grades We Accept
Stripped copper — clean bare wire.
Household wiring, twin-and-earth, unstripped.
SWA — steel wire armoured cable.
Overhead line, ali armoured cable.
Low copper content — call for price.
Copper-wound motors, transformers.
Who Brings Us Scrap Cable & Wire?
Trade and domestic customers welcome at all three depots.
The Stripping Decision — When It's Worth It and When It Isn't
Stripping cable pays more per kilo, but it takes time. Here's how to work out if it makes sense.
The core question is whether the uplift in price per kilo outweighs the cost of your labour. On a significant cable price gap, stripping makes sense for thicker, high-copper-content cables — particularly 6mm and above twin-and-earth, SY control cable, and high-copper armoured cable. For thin data cable, alarm cable, and low-grade telephone cable, the copper content is low enough that the stripping effort doesn't pay off.
A rough rule of thumb: if a cable has at least 50% copper by weight (true for most 4mm+ power cable), stripping is likely worthwhile. If it's below 30% copper by weight (common in data, coax, and alarm cable), bring it as-is at the PVC rate — you'll be ahead.
Armoured cable (SWA) — steel wire armoured — contains copper cores, steel armour, and plastic insulation. Stripping the outer sheath and armour to get to the copper cores is labour-intensive. Most customers bring it as-is and take the armoured cable rate. If you have large quantities of thick SWA with high copper content (25mm² and above), talk to us about the options before you start stripping.
⚠️ Never burn cable. Burning insulation off cable is an offence under the Environmental Protection Act 1990. It produces toxic fumes including dioxins. It also damages the copper — burnt, oxidised wire grades lower and pays less than properly stripped wire. Use a mechanical stripper or bring it unstripped.
Every Cable Type We Accept — and How We Grade Them
From new offcut cable to stripped armoured, here's what we deal with daily.
Twin-and-earth (T&E): The most common domestic and commercial cable. 1mm, 1.5mm, 2.5mm, 4mm, 6mm, 10mm. New offcut graded at a premium; old mixed grades lower. If it's mixed, bring it all in and we'll check.
SWA armoured cable: Multi-core armoured, both copper and aluminium conductors. We grade copper-core SWA and aluminium-core SWA separately — they're meaningfully different in value.
MICC (mineral-insulated copper-clad): Very high copper content — copper sheath, copper conductors. If you have MICC cable from a building strip-out, it's worth keeping separate. It grades close to heavy copper.
Data, alarm, and comms cable: CAT5, CAT6, coax, alarm cable, telephone cable. Low copper content — typically 5–15%. We buy it, but at a lower rate reflecting the actual copper yield. If you have a van-load from a data centre strip-out, call ahead.
Electric motors: Copper-wound motors from industrial machinery, compressors, pumps, and domestic appliances. We price per tonne based on estimated copper content — larger industrial motors pay more per unit than domestic appliances. Bring them in and we'll weigh and grade.
Why QuickStop vs Other Scrap Dealers?
Here's how we compare on the things that matter.
Scrap Cable & Wire FAQs
Ready to sell your scrap cable & wire?
Drive in to any of our three depots — no appointment, same day payment.
Ready to sell or have a question?