If your business sells scrap metal, two sets of rules apply. The Scrap Metal Dealers Act 2013 governs the dealer who buys it. Your duty of care as the business producing the waste governs you.
This guide covers England, where Resilient Contracting is licensed. Wales shares the Act but keeps its own register, and Scotland and Northern Ireland have their own law. It is a plain-English summary, not legal advice.
The Scrap Metal Dealers Act 2013 in brief
The Act replaced the old registration scheme for scrap dealers with council licences and a ban on cash. Section 1 says no one may carry on business as a scrap metal dealer unless authorised by a licence, and doing so without one is an offence.
Section 21 sets out who that covers: anyone who “carries on a business which consists wholly or partly in buying or selling scrap metal, whether or not the metal is sold in the form in which it was bought”, plus motor salvage operators. Scrap metal itself is defined widely, as “any old, waste or discarded metal or metallic material” and any product or assembly that contains metal and is broken, worn out or at the end of its useful life. Gold and silver, and alloys with a set proportion of either, are outside it.
Site licences and collector’s licences
Licences are issued by the local council, and there are two kinds (section 2).
- Site licence. Lets the dealer carry on business at the sites it names, within that council’s area. It names each site and the manager of each site. A copy must be displayed at every site, somewhere prominent that the public can see (section 10).
- Collector’s licence. For a mobile collector with no site. It covers business as a mobile collector in the issuing council’s area only, so a collector working across several boroughs needs a licence from each. A copy must be displayed on every vehicle used, readable from outside (section 10).
A licence lasts three years (Schedule 1). Before issuing one, the council must be satisfied the applicant is a suitable person (section 3). Resilient Contracting holds a site licence from Wigan Council, SML/S0042, for its site at Martland Park.
No cash, ever
Section 12 says a scrap metal dealer must not pay for scrap metal except by a non-transferable cheque or an electronic transfer of funds. “Paying” includes paying in kind, with goods or services, so a swap is caught too.
If the rule is broken, the dealer commits an offence, as can the site manager where payment is made at a site, and anyone who makes the payment for the dealer. For you as the seller, the practical point is simple: have your bank details ready, expect a transfer, and treat any offer of cash as a reason to walk away.
ID checks and records
Under section 11, a dealer must not receive scrap metal from anyone without verifying their full name and address, using documents, data or other information “obtained from a reliable and independent source”. Giving a false name or address when delivering scrap is itself an offence. For a business, expect to give the company name and address and ID for the person arranging the sale.
Section 13 then requires the dealer to record, for every load received:
- a description of the metal, including its type, form, condition and weight, and any identifying marks
- the date and time it was received
- the registration of any vehicle it arrived in
- the full name and address of whoever supplied it
- the name of the person who paid for it on the dealer’s behalf
The dealer also keeps a copy of the ID used and the payment receipt. Section 15 says these records must be kept for three years.
Your duty of care and waste transfer notes
Selling scrap does not stop it being waste. Government guidance puts it plainly: waste “is anything you discard, intend to discard or are required to discard. This includes metal sent for recycling or reuse.”
That brings in the duty of care under section 34 of the Environmental Protection Act 1990. You must take reasonable steps to stop your waste escaping, hand it only to an authorised person, and pass on a written description of it.
- Waste transfer notes. Each load needs a transfer note. An invoice can do the job if it carries the same details. The note describes the waste, including its List of Waste code: metals from construction and demolition sit under 17 04, and machining filings and turnings under 12 01 01 (ferrous) and 12 01 03 (non-ferrous).
- Keep them two years. Both parties must keep the note for at least two years (regulation 35 of the Waste (England and Wales) Regulations 2011). Where the same non-hazardous waste goes regularly, one season ticket can stand in for individual notes for up to a year.
- Hazardous items. Lead-acid batteries, oily sludge and cable containing oil or tar count as hazardous waste, which travels separately on a consignment note. Tell the buyer first: they need a specialist route.
If you carry your own scrap, you need to be registered as a waste carrier. Carrying only waste you produce yourself is usually lower tier, but construction and demolition waste is the exception, and “construction” includes improvement, repair and alteration (regulation 24(5)(e) of the 2011 Regulations). So a contractor taking its own strip-out scrap to a dealer will usually need an upper-tier registration. From 22 July 2027, registration in England is being replaced by environmental permits, with existing registrations carried through a transition, so check what applies to yours.
How to check a dealer’s licence and a carrier’s registration
The Environment Agency keeps the register of scrap metal licences issued in England, and the Act requires it to be open to the public (section 7). Search the Register of Scrap Metal Dealers by licence holder, licence number, type or council. Check that the name matches the business you are dealing with, that the licence type fits what they do (a site, or collecting), and that it has not expired. Then look for the licence on display at the site or on the vehicle.
Anyone carrying your scrap must also be a registered waste carrier. Search the register of waste carriers, brokers and dealers by name, registration number or postcode, and check the tier and expiry date.
You can check us the same way: site licence SML/S0042 and upper-tier carrier, broker and dealer registration CBDU581935.
Manufacturers selling by-product scrap
Section 21(3) of the Act says a person who manufactures articles is not to be regarded as selling scrap metal if they sell it “only as a by-product of manufacturing articles or as surplus materials” not required for manufacturing them. So a machine shop selling its swarf and offcuts, or a fabricator selling its skeletons and surplus sheet, is not generally required to hold a scrap metal licence for those sales.
The exemption covers you as the seller, not the buyer. The dealer still needs a licence, still has to verify your name and address and still cannot pay cash. Your duty of care still applies too, so each consignment still travels with a transfer note.
If you are not a manufacturer, for example a contractor selling scrap from its own jobs, the question is whether your business “consists wholly or partly in buying or selling scrap metal”. That depends on the facts, so if you sell scrap regularly, ask your council’s licensing team. If you buy scrap from others to sell on, you need a licence.
Checklist before your scrap leaves site
- Check the buyer’s scrap metal licence on the public register, and that the name matches.
- Check whoever is carrying the scrap is a registered waste carrier.
- Agree payment by bank transfer, and walk away from cash.
- Have your business name, address and ID ready for verification.
- Separate your metals, and tell the buyer first about anything hazardous.
- Fill in a transfer note (or season ticket) describing the load.
- Keep transfer notes for at least two years, with the weight, grade and payment record.
- If you carry scrap yourself, make sure you are registered, upper tier for construction and demolition waste.
Selling to us? Call 01942 906041 or send details through the quote form, and see how scrap metal prices are set.