Home › By item › Scrap metal › Portland
A public resource guide
Free scrap metal removal in Portland, OR
Haulers charge.
Checked against City of Portland
Home › By item › Scrap metal › Portland
A public resource guide
Haulers charge.
Checked against City of Portland
$18
pickup fee per trip through your assigned garbage company
$21 to $29
per piece of furniture or mattress on top of the trip fee
Free
mattress and electronics drop-off at Metro transfer stations under Oregon programs
Every route for scrap metal in Portland, checked in October 2026 against the city’s current rules and the drop-off sites named. The full Portland guide covers every other item.
Here is how each route works in Portland, starting with the city program and ending with paid pickup.
Portland bulky waste pickup through your garbage company: scrap metal
Hauler pickup, $18 trip + per itemHaulers charge for metal items, but scrap yards and Metro's metal area take them free.
Who qualifies: Residential customers of Portland's franchised garbage companies. There is no free city bulky program; every address has an assigned hauler that charges city-set rates.
How to schedule: Call your assigned garbage company (find it at portland.gov) at least a week ahead. The hauler must collect within 7 days of the request. Cost is an $18 pickup fee per trip plus a per-item charge set by the city: $29 for extra-large items, $21 for large, $6 for appliances and electronics, more for coolant appliances.
Limits: No item limit, but each item is charged. Use the city's bulky waste cost calculator before booking.
Set-out: At the curb by 6 a.m. on the scheduled day and no more than 24 hours before. Miss the window and you pay the trip fee twice. Early set-outs soak up rain and attract dumping.
Metro Central and Metro South transfer stations: scrap metal
FreeScrap metal accepted.
Where: Metro Central: 6161 NW 61st Ave, Portland. Metro South: 2001 Washington St, Oregon City.
How it works: Self-haul, $30 minimum for public loads weighed by the ton. Mattresses and electronics (up to 7 items a day) are free under Oregon state programs. Coolant appliances $30 each, limit 5 a day. Other metal appliances free. Household hazardous waste free. Tires accepted for a per-tire fee.
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 Portland: 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 Portland: you can start the conversation now through the For partners page.
Portland’s system is genuinely different from every other major U.S. city covered: there is no city-run bulky item pickup program. Each property is assigned to a specific garbage hauler by neighborhood, and bulky items are picked up by that hauler at City-set rates. Portland also runs the only major U.S. 4-stream curbside collection, trash, recycling, glass (separate yellow bin), and compost, with garbage collected biweekly while the others are weekly. This page walks through every legitimate option in order from free to paid.
The Portland rule for scrap metal: Haulers charge for metal items, but scrap yards and Metro's metal area take them free.
Program basics: No item limit, but each item is charged. Use the city's bulky waste cost calculator before booking. At the curb by 6 a.m. on the scheduled day and no more than 24 hours before. Miss the window and you pay the trip fee twice. Early set-outs soak up rain and attract dumping.
What the city will not take: Nothing is free curbside. Hazardous waste, tires, and construction debris go to Metro transfer stations instead. Mattresses and electronics are free at Metro stations under Oregon programs.
How we checked this. The rules on this page were verified in October 2026 against: City of Portland BPS: Bulky waste collection rates, Metro: Garbage, recycling, and hazardous waste disposal (transfer stations). Programs change; confirm fees and limits before you go.
Hazardous and regulated components in Portland. Portland residents can dispose of household hazardous waste at Metro’s two Hazardous Waste Facilities, Metro Central (Portland) and Metro South (Oregon City). Accepted: paint, pool/spa chemicals, pesticides, automotive products, solvents, household cleaners, batteries, propane tanks, mercury thermometers/thermostats. Nominal fees apply but are typically less than $25 for residential loads. Several retailers also offer ongoing free recycling: Home Depot for batteries and CFL bulbs, AutoZone for motor oil and car batteries (or use the free curbside next-to-glass-bin option), Best Buy for electronics, and most pharmacies for unused medications. Used motor oil and cooking oil are picked up FREE curbside, just place sealed jugs next to your yellow glass bin.
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 service, want full-service in-home pickup (no curbside drag-out), live in 5+ unit buildings, or have items their hauler won’t accept, LoadUp offers professional removal in Portland 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 Portland with LoadUp → Round-up option appears at checkout. Optional, opt-in only.
Rules change at city limits. If you are outside Portland proper, start with the guide for your own city:
Related guides: the complete Portland 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 Portland: mattress, couch, refrigerator, washer and dryer, furniture, tv and electronics, dresser, bed frame and box spring.
Does Portland pick up scrap metal for free?
Free at a scrap yard or Metro. Haulers charge.
How much does paid scrap metal removal cost in Portland?
Through the LoadUp marketplace, a single scrap metal pickup in Portland 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 service, want full-service in-home pickup (no curbside drag-out), live in 5+ unit buildings, or have items their hauler won’t accept, LoadUp offers professional removal in Portland 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 Portland page maintained?
Yes. Freemoval maintains this page as a public resource alongside the full Portland guide. We update it when programs change rules, fees, or contact methods. Last updated October 2026. If you find outdated information, let us know.