Creative Uses For Old Plumbing Copper?

According to Alan Smithee :

Sculpture, especially water fountains ;-)

Scrapyards may pay as much as a buck a pound or so for copper. Some "architectural scrap dealers" may pay more for useable fittings.

I've liberated modest amounts of more normal sized copper, and that gets pulled apart, and slowly gets reused in new projects.

Set it out by the curb on a non-trash day. Odds are it'll be gone by the time you get home from work. Out of landfill, and some poor SOB will get a little cash for it. I cleared the basement of a family rental house that way- 3/4 of the stuff was gone by morning.

aem sends...

There is likely a recycling yard not too far from you. I wouldn't look at it a "would it pay for the gas" argument. Copper is a finite resource, much rarer than iron, steel, and aluminum, and should not be tossed, just for conservation reasons alone, not to mention that in a landfill environment copper salts leach out of landfill, potentially poisoning groundwater reservoirs. Further, copper scrap can be melted into new products with a fraction of the energy needed to produce the metal from ores. I keep a big box of sawn up copper and brass trash. Once it gets fairly heavy, I take it to my local recycler.

"There is likely a recycling yard not too far from you. I wouldn't look at it a "would it pay for the gas" argument. Copper is a finite resource, much rarer than iron, steel, and aluminum, and should not be tossed, just for conservation reasons alone, not to mention that in a landfill environment copper salts leach out of landfill, potentially poisoning groundwater reservoirs."

Yeah, that makes a lot of sense. Burn gas and wear out the car just to take some scrap to a recycling center, regardless of whether you get enough money to make it worthwhile? I guess oil isn't a finite resource? And as for not tossing it in the trash for safety reasons, that's just plain crazy. Just look at all the other streams of various types of trash that are legally going into landfills, many of them containing copper and far worse. Household batteries for example. The leachate from all landfills contains all kinds of toxins and has to be contained today with a liner. Whether this guy's copper pipe winds up there or not isn't going to make any difference. It's fairly likely the copper would be recovered at the waste facility anyway, prior to the trash going into the landfill. That's what's done here in NJ.

Nah, do nothing, like you.

That gave me a great idea. I've always wanted an "outdoor" shower I can go crazy and put in a bunch of extra spouts. A bit late in the year but why not get it ready for spring. I've even got the shower fixture valve. Thanks

"Nah, do nothing, like you. "

Isn't it time for you to go hug a tree?

see one old solider joint or fitting they call it dirty.( cut soldiered ends off) Phone around and get prices Some guys told me $.60 a pound. the price dose change.

recycle it. Copper isnt cheap. (call up and find how much it is per pound)

Why not get a few pieces of brass in there and you'll get some real money! (they get some big bucks for brass)

His point is valid. Burning the gas to take it to the scrap yard will produce more polutants and use up more resources than the copper will produce.

My method. I keep a barrel and add to it. I currently have a 50 gal barrel full and overflowing with copper wire, fuel line, etc. that has accumulated over the past 30 years. Someday when I am going that way, it will be on the PU with me (100 mile round-trip).

Harry K

Cut it into small enough pieces and hop on your bicycle to take to the recycler.

I predict, in the future, when raw materials become scarce, we will be returning to all our landfills. We won't call them "landfills" or "dumps", by then they'll be known as "mines".

Invest in your future, buy a defunct landfill, do it for the children...

DJ

That is why I said I save brass and copper in a box, at home. Eventually you'll have enough to make a trip worthwhile. Since the recycle yard is on the way to several other places I frequent, saving it up makes sense, no? Re oil as a resource, when oil gets short, we'll have to use other energy technologies, like solar, biofuels, electric, hydrogen, etc. When copper runs short, we are out of luck, short of recycling.