Industry specifications
The standard classifications for non-ferrous metals are divided into three sections: SECTION ONE are grades for which full specification can be given; SECTION TWO are grades which should be sold on the basis of description, sample or assay; and, SECTION THREE are grades for which five-letter code words only are given. The code words are assigned to improve international communication. CONDITIONS OF SALE AND NOTES apply to all three sections above.
Standard classifications for ALUMINIUM are issued by the Association of Light Alloy Refiners, and are divided into full descriptions and code words only.
Standard Classifications for non-ferrous scrap metals
Section 1
Non-ferrous grades for which full specifications can be given
Beech 5: Brass, heavy yellow
May consist of heavy yellow brass castings and rod scrap in crucible size pieces. It may contain up to 15% of plated and soldered material. It must be free from manganese, aluminium, silicon and nickel mixtures, condenser tubes and iron and commercially free from any other foreign matter.
Birds 6: Brass, light
May consist of all kinds of brass excluded from any of the other brass categories, but excluding perished sheathing, sweated radiator brass, and aluminium and manganese mixtures. It must be free from iron and commercially free from any other foreign matter.
Bison 7: Brass old rolled
Shall consist of old rolled sheet brass free from ships’ sheathing. It must be free from tinned, soldered, and plated material and iron and commercially free from any other foreign matter.
Boars 8: Brass rod ends, new
Shall consist of new extruded brass rod ends and other new process scrap of similar composition and must be free form manganese and aluminium mixtures, iron and any other foreign matter. It must be in crucible size pieces.
Bream 9: Brass rod swarf No 1
Shall consist only of swarf from brass rod, free from manganese and aluminium mixtures, free from aluminium gunmetal and any other foreign matter. It may contain up to 4% iron and moisture combined.
Bucks 10: Brass sheet cuttings, new
Shall consist of cuttings and stampings from new soft brass sheet or strip containing not less than 61.5% of copper and not more than 0.3% of lead. It must be free from punchings, tinned and plated material, iron and any other foreign matter.
Bulls 11: Brass tube, cut up
Shall consist of drawn brass chandelier or similar quality scrap, free from cast brass, extruded tubes, condenser tubes, tinned, plated and soldered material and iron and must be commercially free from any other foreign matter.
Camel 12: Copper, braziery
Shall consist of soldered, tinned and brazed copper and may contain copper vat wire. It may contain up to 5% of brass or gunmetal attachments. It must be free from electrotype shells, back boilers and iron and commercially free from any other foreign matter.
Capon 13: Copper cuttings
Shall consist of clean new untinned copper sheet cuttings of various gauges. It must be free from soldered and plated material, iron and any other foreign matter.
Carps 14: Copper hair wire, tinned
Shall consist of clean unburnt tinned copper hair wire free from tin/lead alloy coated copper wire. It must be free from iron and any other foreign matter.
Chick 15: Copper hair wire, untinned
Shall consist of clean unburnt copper hair wire, free from enamelled wire. It must be free from iron and any other foreign matter.
Chimp 16: Copper heavy
Shall consist of crucible size clean untinned copper not less than a thickness of 1/16in such as cut-up pipe, tubing and sheet. It must be free from brazed, soldered and plated material and iron and commercially free from any other foreign matter.
Clams 18: Copper wire, bright tinned
Shall consist of clean bright unburnt tinned HC copper wire free from hair wire. It must be free from iron and any other foreign matter.
Chows 17: Copper light
Shall consist of collected clean old copper sheet and tube scrap, free from tinned, brazed, soldered and plated material, perished and brittle copper and iron and commercially free from any other foreign matter.
Clams 18: Copper wire, bright tinned
Shall consist of clean bright unburnt HC copper wire not thinner than 22 gauge. It must be free from iron and any other foreign matter.
Colts 20: Copper wire No 1
Shall consist of clean untinned HC copper wire not thinner than 22 gauge, free from hard wire, brittle burnt wire and iron and commercially free from any other foreign matter.
Corgi 21: Copper wire No 2
Shall consist of copper wire such as burnt tinned wire and may contain a percentage of unburnt tinned and soldered wire. It must be free from hair wire, vat wire, burnt wire which is brittle, iron and commercially free from any other foreign matter.
Crows 22: Gunmetal
Shall consist of all classes of gunmetal in crucible size pieces, to be free from excessively leady material. It must be free from iron and commercially free from any other foreign matter.
Daisy 23: Lead, battery grade ‘A’
Shall consist of lead accumulator plates with lugs and bridges. It must be free from iron and commercially free from any other foreign matter.
Doves 24: Lead, battery grade ‘B’
Shall consist of lead accumulator plates without lugs and bridges. it must be free from iron and commercially free from any other foreign matter.
Drake 25: Lead, old
Shall be free from battery lead, iron, brass, copper and other metals. It must be reasonably free from hard lead, dirt and any other foreign matter.
Drone 26: Nickel silver scrap
May consist of all kinds of collected nickel silver scrap, including soldered and plated. It must be free from iron and commercially free from any other foreign matter.
Ferns 27: Spelter, hard
Shall consist of unsweated and unburnt hard zinc as produced by galvanisers in lumps or slabs and must be free from fine material and iron. No piece to exceed 100lb in weight.
Finch 28: Zinc, old
Shall be free from diecast alloys. it must be free from iron, tar and excessively oxidised material and reasonable free from dirt and any other foreign matter.
Section 2
Short Descriptions. To avoid disputes, these grades should be sold on the basis of their description, sample or assay.
Frogs 31: Brass borings, mixed
May consist of any kind of brass borings and turnings. They may be slightly contaminated with aluminium and gunmetal borings and may contain up to a maximum of 10% in all of manganese and aluminium mixture borings. Iron and moisture contents combined should not exceed 5%.
Grain 32: Brass condenser tubes
Should be reasonably free from scale and free from tinned, plated and perished tubes and iron.
Grass 33: Brass turnings, yellow
Should be free from aluminium, manganese and any other admixture. Iron and moisture contents combined should not exceed 3%.
Gulls 34: Gunmetal borings
Should be free from grindings, excessively leady material and aluminium, manganese and silicon mixtures and commercially free from brass. Iron and moisture contents combined should not exceed 3%.
Hares 35: Manganese bronze castings
Should be free from aluminium bronze, silicon bronze, iron and any other foreign matter.
Section 3
These grades should be exactly as stated and must be free from iron and commercially free from any foreign matter.
Minks 45: Magnesium alloy castings
Moths 46: Magnesium alloy borings and turnings
Mouse 47: Nickel and anodes, pure
Newts 48: Radiator blocks, unsweated brass
Onion 49: Radiator blocks, unsweated brass and copper
Otter 50: Radiator blocks, unsweated copper
Panda 51: Zinc alloy diecastings, new
Panda 51: Zinc alloy diecastings, old
Prawn 53: Zinc sheet cuttings, new
Quail 54: Cupro nickel, new
In the form of cuttings, rod, tube etc
Roach 55: Cupro nickel, old
Robin 56: Monel metal ‘K’ new
Rooks 57: Monel metal ‘K’ old
Sable 58: Monel metal ‘K’ soldered
Seals 59: Monel metal, new
Sheep 60: Monel metal, old
Snail 61: Monel metal, old
Snipe 62: Nickel, pure new
Borings and turnings
Sprat 63: Nickel, pure old
Stork 64: Nickel, silver, new
Tiger 65: Cupro nickel
Trout 66: Monel metal ‘K’
Viper 67: Monel metal
Vixen 68: Nickel, pure
Whale 69: Nickel silver
Conditions of Sale and Notes
Conditions of Sale
- Delivery of within 1% more or less of the specified quantity to be considered as satisfactory delivery under the contract
- When the term ‘about’ is used, delivery of within 5% more or less of the specified quantity to be considered as satisfactory delivery under the contract
- A ton shall be understood to be 2,240lb
- The contract shall be deemed to have been made in the UK and shall be construed according to the laws of that country.
Notes
- It is recommended that any dispute arising between buyer and seller should be referred to arbitration in accordance with the rules of Arbitration of the British Metals Recycling Association
- ‘Foreign matter’ includes insulation, mica, bobbins, plant, lagging, scale, corrosion, tar, paper, rubber, packing and any material other than the actual metal specified
- Any reference in the classifications to ‘iron’ means ‘free iron’
- All goods covered by the classification should be packed in handy form, i.e., packed in bags or casks, hanked, hand baled or in other convenient form according to the usual trade custom.
STANDARD CLASSIFICATIONS FOR ALUMINIUM SCRAP
Section 1
Full specification
Acorn: aluminium cast
Shall consist of whole or broken commercial quality aluminium alloy castings. It must be free from brass and iron and commercially free from any other foreign matter, but may contain up to 3% of oil, grease and paint combined.
Adder: aluminium crank cases
Shall consist of whole or broken aluminium alloy crank cases, gearboxes and oil sumps. It must be free from brass and iron and commercially free from any other foreign matter, but may contain up to 3% of oil and grease combined.
Bears: Aluminium cuttings, new
Shall consist of clean new commercially pure aluminium (group 1) sheet cuttings; may contain up to 10% of commercially pure aluminium wire and tube. It must be free from foil, cast attachments, iron and any other foreign matter.
Beast: Aluminium, old rolled
Shall consist of clean old aluminium (group 1) sheet, tube or utensils, free from heavily painted and excessively oxidised material. It must be free from cast attachments and iron and commercially free from any other foreign matter.
Foals: Aluminium alloy borings and turnings, mixed
Shall consist of uncorroded aluminium alloy borings and turnings of more than one alloy group and be commercially free from foreign matter. Free iron shall not exceed 2% and fines below 20-mesh shall not exceed 3%. The combined free iron, fines, moisture and oil contents shall not exceed 20%.
Foxes: Aluminium alloy borings and turnings, segregated
Shall consist of uncorroded aluminium alloy borings and turnings of one specified alloy group only and be commercially free from foreign matter. Free iron shall not exceed 2% and fines below 20-mesh shall not exceed 3%. The combined free iron, fines, moisture, and oil contents shall not exceed 10%.
Weeds: Aluminium alloy sheet cuttings and solids, new mixed
Shall consist of new clean aluminium alloy sheet cuttings and scrap of more than one alloy group and shall be free from foil, fine wire, castings, punchings of less than 1.27cm (ýin) in diameter and from iron and other foreign matter.
Hound: Aluminium alloy sheet cuttings and solids, new segregated
Shall consist of new clean aluminium alloy sheet cuttings and scrap of one specified alloy group only and shall be free from foil, fine wire, castings, punchings of less than 1.27cm (ýin) in diameter and from iron and other foreign matter.
Plums: Aluminium alloy sheets and solids, old mixed
Shall consist of clean old aluminium alloy sheet and scrap of more than one alloy group; free from heavily painted and excessively oxidised material. It must be free from foil, fine wire, castings, punchings of less than 1.27cm (ýin) in diameter and commercially free from iron and other foreign matter.
Lambs: Aluminium alloy sheet and solids, old segregated
Shall consist of clean old aluminium alloy sheet and scrap of one specified alloy group only; free from heavily painted and excessively oxidised material. It must be free from foil, fine wire, castings, punchings of less than 1.27cm (ýin) in diameter and commercially free from iron and other foreign matter.
Section 2
Code words only
Hawks: Aluminium alloy forgings and extrusions, new
Hazel: Aluminium alloy forgings and extrusions, old
Horse: Aluminium alloy pistons
Darks: Aluminium foil, new
Lions: Unalloyed aluminium wire and cable, new
Limes: Unalloyed aluminium wire and cable, new
Macaw: Unalloyed aluminium wire and cable, old
