Do scrap men take microwaves and other appliances?

Microwaves

A microwave is a steel box with a transformer, a motor and some copper inside it, so a scrap collector will take it. The honest caveat is that one microwave on its own is not worth a van trip for anyone, so most collectors, us included, will ask whether you have anything else. A microwave plus an old cooker, a few radiators or a bike is a normal collection. If the microwave is the only thing, your council bulky uplift or a household recycling centre is the quicker route, and we would rather tell you that than keep you waiting.

Washing machines, dryers and dishwashers

All collected, working or not. They are heavy, around 70 kilograms for a washing machine because of the concrete counterweight, which is exactly why people want them taken away rather than carrying them to the tip. You do not need to drain the drum. Switch the machine off at the socket, turn off the water at the valve behind it, and pull the hoses off onto a towel. If you cannot get it out from under a worktop, say so when you book and we will do it.

Cookers, ovens and hobs

Free-standing cookers, built-in ovens, hobs and extractor hoods are all taken. Electric ones just need to be unplugged or isolated at the cooker switch. A gas cooker must be disconnected and the supply capped by a Gas Safe registered engineer before we arrive; we will not disconnect gas and nor should anyone else without that registration. Most kitchen fitters do this as part of a replacement, so if a new cooker is going in, ask them to cap the old one off.

Fridges and freezers

Not collected, and that applies to scrap metal collectors in general, not only to us. Fridges, freezers and fridge-freezers contain refrigerant gas and insulation that must be removed at a licensed facility before the metal can be recycled. Carrying them on a general scrap van is not allowed. The right routes are your council's bulky uplift service, the retailer delivering your new appliance, who usually take the old one for a small fee or free, or the household recycling centre.

Televisions, computers and other electronics

A television, monitor or computer is not scrap metal. It is electrical waste: mostly plastic and glass with a small amount of metal and some components that need proper treatment. It is not part of a standard metal collection, and a collector who takes one is doing you a favour rather than collecting scrap. Councils and recycling centres accept them, and most retailers take an old one back when they deliver new. If you have a television sitting beside a pile of metal we are already collecting, text us a photo and we will tell you straight whether we can add it.

Upstairs, and what it costs

From the ground floor, a drive, a garden or the bottom of a close, appliances are collected free. The only time a charge can arise is when a heavy appliance has to be carried down from an upper floor of a tenement or flats with no lift. That is a small labour charge per floor, and it is agreed when you book, never on the doorstep. Lighter items, radiators and the like, are free from any floor where access is safe.

How to get an appliance collected

• Text or WhatsApp a photo with your postcode, or send the form. Say which floor it is on.
• Disconnect it: socket off, water off, gas capped by a Gas Safe engineer.
• Leave it where it is. We lift, carry and load; you do not need to move it to the door.
• If you have other metal, old radiators, a bike, a cylinder, put it all together and we take the lot in one visit.