If you're building applications for the recycling or manufacturing industry, understanding scrap metal grades is essential. Prices vary dramatically between grades of the same metal, and the industry uses a specific classification system that might be unfamiliar to software developers.

The ISRI Specification System

The Institute of Scrap Recycling Industries (ISRI), now known as ReMA (Recycled Materials Association), publishes the Scrap Specifications Circular. This document defines standard grades for scrap metals using code names. These codes are used across the industry for trading and pricing.

Copper Grades

Copper is the highest-value common scrap metal. Grades are primarily differentiated by purity and form:

Bare Bright (ISRI: BARLEY) is the highest grade. It's clean, uncoated, unalloyed copper wire, no smaller than 16 gauge. This is what electricians strip out of heavy wire. It typically trades at 90-95% of the COMEX copper price.

#1 Copper Tubing (ISRI: CANDY) is clean copper tubing with no solder, paint, or fittings. Plumbers generate this from new pipe cutoffs.

#2 Copper (ISRI: BIRCH) is the catch-all grade for miscellaneous copper scrap with a minimum 96% copper content. It can have some oxidation, solder joints, or light coatings.

Insulated Copper Wire (ISRI: DRUID) is wire with the insulation still attached. The recovery rate (percentage of copper by weight) varies from 30% to 85% depending on the wire type.

Steel Grades

Steel is traded by the gross ton (2,240 lbs) rather than per pound. The key grades are:

HMS 1 (ISRI: 200-206) stands for Heavy Melting Steel. It's wrought iron or steel scrap at least 1/4 inch thick. This is a foundational feedstock for steel mills.

HMS 2 (ISRI: 203-205) allows thinner gauge material mixed in. It trades at a discount to HMS 1.

Shredded Steel (ISRI: 210-211) is the output of industrial shredders that process cars, appliances, and other steel products. It's a homogeneous product that mills prefer for its consistency.

#1 Busheling (ISRI: 207) is clean new factory scrap, like stamping offcuts from auto manufacturing. It's the highest quality ferrous scrap and is the basis for CME's steel scrap futures contract.

Aluminum Grades

UBC / Aluminum Cans (ISRI: TALC) are used beverage cans. This is the most recycled aluminum product in the world, with a well-established collection and processing infrastructure.

Extrusions 6063 (ISRI: TATA) are clean aluminum extrusions, commonly from window frames and architectural applications.

Cast Aluminum (ISRI: TRUMP) comes from engine blocks, transmission cases, and other castings.

Brass Grades

Yellow Brass (ISRI: HONEY) is the most common brass scrap, with 60-70% copper content. Sources include plumbing fixtures, shell casings, and decorative items.

Red Brass (ISRI: EBONY) has higher copper content (80-85%) and trades at a premium to yellow brass.

Why Grades Matter for Developers

When you're building pricing displays, estimation tools, or trading platforms, using the correct grade is critical. The price difference between Bare Bright copper and #2 Copper can be $0.50-$1.00 per pound. At scale, that's enormous.

ScrapMetal API provides pricing data at the grade level, with ISRI codes included in every response, so your application can match industry standards precisely.