Home › By item › Scrap metal › Philadelphia
A public resource guide
Free scrap metal removal in Philadelphia, PA
Scrap yards will often pay for it.
Checked against Philadelphia Sanitation
Home › By item › Scrap metal › Philadelphia
A public resource guide
Scrap yards will often pay for it.
Checked against Philadelphia Sanitation
2
compactible large items per week with regular trash, no appointment
4
items per Residential Bulk Collection appointment
6
Sanitation Convenience Centers, free with proof of residency
Every route for scrap metal in Philadelphia, checked in October 2026 against the city’s current rules and the drop-off sites named. The full Philadelphia guide covers every other item.
Here is how each route works in Philadelphia, starting with the city program and ending with paid pickup.
Philadelphia curbside large items and Residential Bulk Collection: scrap metal
Free, with a step firstLarge metal items are not regular trash; they go through a bulk appointment or a Convenience Center, 2 a day. Scrap yards are the other route and often pay.
Who qualifies: Households with city trash collection (generally buildings of 6 or fewer units). Larger buildings use private haulers.
How to schedule: Two paths. Compactible furniture (sofas, chairs, bagged mattresses) goes out with regular trash, up to 2 items a week, no appointment. Appliances, TVs, and tires use the Residential Bulk Collection Program: book an appointment through the Sanitation website or 311, up to 4 items per appointment, collected from your regular trash spot.
Limits: 2 compactible large items per household per week at the curb. 4 items per bulk collection appointment. Sanitation Convenience Centers take up to 2 appliances and 4 tires per day with proof of residency.
Set-out: Set items at your regular trash pickup spot on trash day (after 7 p.m. the night before). Mattresses and box springs must be sealed in plastic mattress bags. Keep sidewalks passable.
Sanitation Convenience Centers: scrap metal
Free, 2 large metal items per dayOr any scrap yard.
Where: Six locations citywide (Northwest at 300 Domino Ln, Northeast, North, West, Southwest, South); addresses and hours on phila.gov
How it works: Free for Philadelphia residents with proof of residency; no business waste. Accepts up to 2 appliances or large metal items a day, up to 4 tires a day, electronics, bulk furniture, yard waste, and some household hazardous waste.
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 Philadelphia: 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 Philadelphia: you can start the conversation now through the For partners page.
Philadelphia’s bulk pickup landscape changed materially in 2024. After more than a decade with no curbside bulk service, the city restored the program in September 2024 as part of Mayor Cherelle Parker’s One Philly, United City Cleaning Initiative. Combined with the six Sanitation Convenience Centers and the new twice-a-week trash pilot, Philly residents have more options today than they’ve had in years. This page walks through every one.
The Philadelphia rule for scrap metal: Large metal items are not regular trash; they go through a bulk appointment or a Convenience Center, 2 a day. Scrap yards are the other route and often pay.
Program basics: 2 compactible large items per household per week at the curb. 4 items per bulk collection appointment. Sanitation Convenience Centers take up to 2 appliances and 4 tires per day with proof of residency. Set items at your regular trash pickup spot on trash day (after 7 p.m. the night before). Mattresses and box springs must be sealed in plastic mattress bags. Keep sidewalks passable.
What the city will not take: Electronics (banned from trash under Pennsylvania law), appliances and large metal items without a bulk appointment, tires without an appointment, construction debris, and household hazardous waste.
How we checked this. The rules on this page were verified in October 2026 against: Philadelphia Department of Sanitation: Residential trash and recycling rules, City of Philadelphia: Residential Bulk Collection Program announcement (September 2024), City of Philadelphia: Sanitation Convenience Centers. Programs change; confirm fees and limits before you go.
Hazardous and regulated components in Philadelphia. Philadelphia hosts periodic Household Hazardous Waste collection events for items like paint, batteries, household chemicals, and pesticides. Check phila.gov for current dates and locations. Several retailers 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 can’t wait for the next available bulk appointment, have items the city won’t take, or live in apartment buildings over 6 units, LoadUp offers professional removal in Philadelphia 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 Philadelphia with LoadUp → Round-up option appears at checkout. Optional, opt-in only.
Rules change at city limits. If you are outside Philadelphia proper, start with the guide for your own city:
Related guides: the complete Philadelphia 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 Philadelphia: mattress, couch, refrigerator, washer and dryer, furniture, tv and electronics, dresser, bed frame and box spring.
Does Philadelphia pick up scrap metal for free?
Through a bulk appointment or a Convenience Center, 2 large metal items a day. Scrap yards will often pay for it.
How much does paid scrap metal removal cost in Philadelphia?
Through the LoadUp marketplace, a single scrap metal pickup in Philadelphia starts around $80 to $100 with upfront pricing, and full-truck loads run $300 to $600 depending on volume. For households who can’t wait for the next available bulk appointment, have items the city won’t take, or live in apartment buildings over 6 units, LoadUp offers professional removal in Philadelphia 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 Philadelphia page maintained?
Yes. Freemoval maintains this page as a public resource alongside the full Philadelphia guide. We update it when programs change rules, fees, or contact methods. Last updated October 2026. If you find outdated information, let us know.