What this guide does: helps you prepare a clear description for a buyer. It does not identify a material by sight, certify a grade, predict an offer, or replace a buyer's inspection.
First, make five separate containers
- Clean bare copper wire: keep bare, uncoated, unalloyed wire apart from insulated cable and mixed metal.
- Clean copper tubing and heavy solids: keep tubing, bus bar, punchings and similar material separate; remove non-copper fittings only when that can be done safely and without damaging the material.
- Insulated wire and cable: sort by whether the conductor is visibly copper and by cable type where practical. Do not represent a mixed or unknown cable as bare copper.
- Brass, bronze and fittings: these copper alloys are not the same product as unalloyed copper. Keep valves, faucets, connectors and other alloyed items separate.
- Mixed or uncertain material: label it as uncertain rather than contaminating the higher-confidence groups.
Why the separation changes the conversation
Scrap descriptions are built around composition, cleanliness and form. ReMA's ISRI specifications, commonly used as a trading vocabulary, distinguish bare uncoated copper wire, copper solids and tubing, insulated wire, copper-bearing material and copper alloys. They also allow parties to agree variations in writing. That is why a buyer's posted board or verbal description matters more than a broad label such as “copper scrap.”
For example, the specifications describe “Bare Bright” as No. 1 bare, uncoated, unalloyed copper wire, while No. 2 copper solids and tubing can include more variation and has different contamination expectations. The exact acceptance rules, minimums, preparation requirements and terminology can vary by buyer and country. Read the buyer's definition before relying on a label.
Read ReMA's current Red Metals specifications and use them as vocabulary, not as a promise that every local buyer will use the same grade or price.
Bare Bright, No. 1 and No. 2 copper grade codes
The shortest useful distinction: Bare Bright and No. 1 descriptions generally demand cleaner unalloyed material; No. 2 descriptions allow specified variation but carry composition and contamination limits. A familiar yard label is not enough to certify a load. The buyer's written description, inspection and agreed contract control the sale.
| Code word | Common description | What the published specification emphasizes | What to confirm with the buyer |
|---|---|---|---|
| Barley | No. 1 bare bright wire | Bare, uncoated, unalloyed copper wire; gauge and other conditions remain subject to agreement | Minimum wire size, allowed surface condition and preparation |
| Berry | No. 1 copper wire | Clean, untinned, uncoated, unalloyed wire and cable, excluding brittle burnt wire and copper tubing | Whether oxidation, attachments or fine strands cause a downgrade |
| Birch | No. 2 copper wire | Miscellaneous unalloyed wire with nominal 96% copper content and a 94% minimum by electrolytic assay, subject to exclusions | Sampling, assay basis, exclusions and deductions |
| Candy | No. 1 heavy solids and tubing | Clean, unalloyed, uncoated clippings, punchings, bus bars, commutator segments and clean tubing | Whether solder, fittings, coatings or attachments are permitted |
| Cliff | No. 2 solids and tubing | Miscellaneous unalloyed scrap with nominal 96% copper content and a 94% minimum, subject to exclusions | How mixed forms, solder, scale and contamination affect settlement |
| Clove | No. 1 wire nodules | Chopped or shredded bare unalloyed wire nodules with at least 99% copper and tight contamination limits | Particle preparation, free metal, fines and moisture limits |
| Dream | Light copper | Sheet, gutters, downspouts, kettles, boilers and similar unalloyed scrap, nominally 92% copper with an 88% minimum, subject to exclusions | Attachments, coatings, mixed metals and recoverable-copper basis |
| Droid / Druid | Insulated copper wire | Insulated wire traded on a sample or recovery basis under agreed conditions | Sample method, measured recovery, disposal cost and final settlement |
These code words are a shared trade vocabulary, not a visual grading shortcut. The cited copper-market history explains how the descriptions work and why sampling and written terms became part of modern scrap settlement.
Do not improve material in a way that creates a problem
- Do not burn insulation from wire. It can create hazardous smoke, damage the metal and cause a buyer to reject or downgrade the material.
- Do not cut, dismantle or strip an item unless you own it, understand the risks and can do it safely. Retain labels, receipts and serial information where they help establish provenance.
- Do not mix brass, aluminum, steel, soldered pieces, heavy dirt or non-metal items into a higher grade.
- Do not assume color proves composition. Coatings, plating and alloying can be misleading; ask for an inspection or test when material is uncertain.