Scrap Metal Yards & Recycling Centers in Lincoln, NE

Yards set their own buy prices and move them weekly with the commodity market, so there is no national figure. As a rough order of magnitude in 2026: steel and light iron pay cents per pound, aluminum cans a few tens of cents per pound, and clean copper a few dollars per pound. Prices also vary by state and by how clean and sorted your material is — call the yard the day you plan to haul and ask for their current posted price.

Many do, but not everywhere: several states restrict cash payouts for scrap metal transactions and require a check, prepaid card or bank transfer, often with a waiting period for catalytic converters and certain nonferrous metals. Every yard is required to record your photo ID either way. Ask about payment method when you call for prices.

Per pound, copper pays best — clean bright wire and copper tubing top the list, followed by brass and insulated wire. Catalytic converters are priced per unit rather than by weight and can be worth far more than the metal in them. Steel and light iron pay the least per pound but make up the bulk of most loads.

It takes roughly 30-34 empty cans to make a pound. At a typical buy price of 40-60 cents a pound, $100 works out to somewhere between 5,000 and 8,000 cans — about a pickup bed packed full of crushed cans.