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A public resource guide
Free scrap metal removal in Albuquerque, NM
Every free and paid way to get rid of scrap metal in Albuquerque, verified October 2026.
Checked against Albuquerque Solid Waste
Home › By item › Scrap metal › Albuquerque
A public resource guide
Every free and paid way to get rid of scrap metal in Albuquerque, verified October 2026.
Checked against Albuquerque Solid Waste
Free
Large Item Pick-Up year-round, requested through 311 or the ABQ311 app
24 hours
minimum notice before your regular trash day
4
tires per request; TVs, toilets, and water heaters are on the accepted list too
Every route for scrap metal in Albuquerque, checked in October 2026 against the city’s current rules and the drop-off sites named. The full Albuquerque guide covers every other item.
Here is how each route works in Albuquerque, starting with the city program and ending with paid pickup.
Albuquerque free Large Item Pick-Up: scrap metal
FreeMetal items are Large Items by 311 request, or take them to a scrap yard.
Who qualifies: Residential Solid Waste Management customers (homes with city carts). Apartment complexes use commercial service.
How to schedule: Request it online (cabq.gov/311), in the ABQ311 app, or by calling 311 at least 24 hours before your regular trash day. The pickup happens on your next normal collection day, free, year-round, with no published limit on how often.
Limits: No more than a standard pickup-truck load per request. Up to 4 tires per request.
Set-out: At the curb on your regular trash day, 5 feet from carts, mailboxes, hydrants, parked cars, low trees, and utility poles. Appliances must be empty; refrigerator and freezer doors taped shut. Contaminated items are refused.
Freemoval (free pickups through partner organizations)
FreeFreemoval funds free junk removal and cleanouts for households referred by trusted partner organizations, such as nonprofits, housing programs, and senior services. Families don’t apply directly. A partner submits the request and vouches for the need.
Status in Albuquerque: Not yet available. Freemoval currently serves metro Atlanta and plans to expand nationwide.
How it works where it operates: One free pickup per household, covering scrap metal, furniture, appliances, and bulk household items within standard LoadUp marketplace service. Funded by LoadUp customer round-ups and direct contributions, spent at standard LoadUp rates.
If you run a nonprofit or housing program in Albuquerque: you can start the conversation now through the For partners page.
Albuquerque runs one of the most generous bulk pickup systems of any major U.S. city: free Large Item Pick-Up year-round, throughout the year, with just 24-hour advance notice via 311. No annual cap, no scheduled cycle, no fees for residential customers. The other unusual rule is NO glass in the blue recycling cart, glass goes to one of 11 yellow drop-off bins located across the city. Trash collection is delayed only on Thanksgiving, Christmas, and New Year’s Day; all other federal holidays are normal. Three Convenience Centers offer flat-fee drop-off ($5.25 per load) for residents who prefer drop-off. This page walks through every legitimate option in order from free to paid.
The Albuquerque rule for scrap metal: Metal items are Large Items by 311 request, or take them to a scrap yard.
Program basics: No more than a standard pickup-truck load per request. Up to 4 tires per request. At the curb on your regular trash day, 5 feet from carts, mailboxes, hydrants, parked cars, low trees, and utility poles. Appliances must be empty; refrigerator and freezer doors taped shut. Contaminated items are refused.
What the city will not take: Household hazardous waste (city HHW Collection Center), contractor construction debris, and anything contaminated. Albuquerque's list is unusually broad: TVs, tires, toilets, and water heaters are all on it.
How we checked this. The rules on this page were verified in October 2026 against: City of Albuquerque Solid Waste: Large Item Pick-Up, City of Albuquerque: Request a Large Item Pickup (311). Programs change; confirm fees and limits before you go.
Hazardous and regulated components in Albuquerque. Albuquerque residents can dispose of household hazardous waste at the Safety-Kleen Household Hazardous Waste Collection Center at 2720 Girard NE, free for residents. Drop off paint, insecticides, automotive products, solvents, household cleaners, batteries, fluorescent bulbs, motor oil (beyond the free curbside option), and gasoline. Hazardous waste is PROHIBITED in the City Landfill and from regular trash carts, placing HHW in your roll-out cart can be referred to code enforcement. Several retailers also offer ongoing free recycling: Home Depot for batteries and CFL bulbs, AutoZone for motor oil and car batteries, Best Buy for electronics, and most pharmacies for unused medications.
Why scrap metal are different from ordinary bulk. Most household scrap is mixed. An appliance is a steel shell around a copper motor and aluminum fins; a bike is a steel or aluminum frame with rubber and plastic. Yards accept mixed items at the steel rate, so sorting pays only if you have enough non-ferrous metal to make it worth the time. A magnet and ten minutes usually tells you.
Three mistakes that get scrap metal left at the curb:
Paid options barely exist for metal, except when the metal is attached to things that are not metal.
Mixed loads to a transfer station
$20 to $60If metal is mixed into a larger cleanout, transfer stations charge by weight for the whole load. Pull the metal out first and give it to a scrapper; it reduces the fee and keeps metal out of the landfill.
Most transfer stations have a free metal pile. Ask before you tip.
LoadUp paid scrap metal pickup
$80+For households who need same-day or in-home pickup, exceed the standard load size in a single 311 request, have items the city won’t take, live in apartment buildings without included service, or want full-service hauling, LoadUp offers professional removal in Albuquerque with upfront pricing. Independent loaders in the marketplace handle pickup, loading, and licensed disposal.
What’s included: Loading, hauling, and licensed disposal of your scrap metal. No prep needed beyond pointing out what goes.
Pricing: Starts around $80 for a single item; full-truck pickups range from $300 to $600 depending on volume.
If you can pay for a pickup, your booking helps fund free pickups for someone else. Every paid LoadUp customer can opt in to round up at checkout, and 100% of round-ups go directly to Freemoval’s subsidized jobs.
Book scrap metal pickup in Albuquerque with LoadUp → Round-up option appears at checkout. Optional, opt-in only.
Rules change at city limits. If you are outside Albuquerque proper, start with the guide for your own city:
Related guides: the complete Albuquerque junk removal guide (every item type, city services, hazardous waste, and how to report dumping) and the national scrap metal disposal guide with rules for all 117 cities we cover.
Other free removal guides for Albuquerque: mattress, couch, refrigerator, washer and dryer, furniture, tv and electronics, dresser, bed frame and box spring.
Does Albuquerque pick up scrap metal for free?
Yes, by 311 request, or a scrap yard.
How much does paid scrap metal removal cost in Albuquerque?
Through the LoadUp marketplace, a single scrap metal pickup in Albuquerque starts around $80 to $100 with upfront pricing, and full-truck loads run $300 to $600 depending on volume. For households who need same-day or in-home pickup, exceed the standard load size in a single 311 request, have items the city won’t take, live in apartment buildings without included service, or want full-service hauling, LoadUp offers professional removal in Albuquerque with upfront pricing. Independent loaders in the marketplace handle pickup, loading, and licensed disposal.
Will someone pick up scrap metal for free?
Yes. Independent scrappers in every metro collect appliances, grills, frames, and other metal from the curb free, usually the same day you post it, because they sell it by weight. Many city bulk programs also collect metal.
How much does a scrap yard pay?
Steel pays a few cents per pound; a washer or water heater might bring a few dollars. Aluminum pays several times more, and copper and brass pay the most, often a few dollars per pound. Prices change weekly with commodity markets.
How do I tell what kind of metal I have?
Use a magnet. If it sticks, the metal is ferrous (steel or iron) and pays the base rate. If it does not, it is aluminum, copper, brass, or stainless and worth sorting out. Copper is reddish, brass is yellow, aluminum is light and silver, stainless is heavy and silver.
Can I scrap a refrigerator or air conditioner?
Yes, but the refrigerant must be recovered first by a certified technician or by the yard if it has recovery equipment. Do not cut the lines. Many yards accept sealed units and recover the gas themselves; call first.
Is this Albuquerque page maintained?
Yes. Freemoval maintains this page as a public resource alongside the full Albuquerque guide. We update it when programs change rules, fees, or contact methods. Last updated October 2026. If you find outdated information, let us know.