What to do with a damaged alu frame?

curium
curium Posts: 815
edited April 2013 in Workshop
Hello, my bicycle was badly damaged in a SMIDSY with a white van driver.

The chainstay is badly bent.



What I want to know is how best to dispose of the frame? I was going to sling it out but it occurred to me that it represents an awful lot of aluminium.

Should I just take it to the tip?

Comments

  • Do they not have a metal recycling skip at your local civic amenity site (dump) there must be one near you? Alternativley drop it in a scarp metal dealer (never know they might give you a couple of £s).
  • Might cost you more in fuel than what you'll get from weighing it in, just leave it at the bottom of your drive, the tatters will collect it for you. Shame about your bike. :cry:
  • smoggysteve
    smoggysteve Posts: 2,909
    Aluminium in itself is not that valuable, its expensive to refine and shape into stuff but as scrap it worth pennies as it would cost alot to melt it down into something else as it has a high melting point. I doubt it would even make a second life as coke cans. best just throw it in the local metal skip
  • crankycrank
    crankycrank Posts: 1,830
    Aluminium is 100% recyclable. Go to a recycler or give it away to someone who will or maybe a budding framebuilder who can use it for practice welding or ??? I believe the process for mining materials from the land used to make alu is one of the most destructive of all metals so best not to waste it.
  • It'll get recycled, scrap value is about £450 a ton now. Maybe smoggy had best give star aluminium in bridgnorth a call on tuesday and tell them to halt work on their new 2 million pound foundry!
  • smoggysteve
    smoggysteve Posts: 2,909
    philvantwo wrote:
    It'll get recycled, scrap value is about £450 a ton now. Maybe smoggy had best give star aluminium in bridgnorth a call on tuesday and tell them to halt work on their new 2 million pound foundry!

    £450 a ton = 1 ton

    Bike frame weight about 1.7kg

    Price you get for scrap would buy you Sweet FA

    Not in he mood for doing the maths but remember aluminium is a very light metal, so 1 ton is a hell of a lot of metal.
  • ademort
    ademort Posts: 1,924
    philvantwo wrote:
    It'll get recycled, scrap value is about £450 a ton now. Maybe smoggy had best give star aluminium in bridgnorth a call on tuesday and tell them to halt work on their new 2 million pound foundry!

    £450 a ton = 1 ton

    Bike frame weight about 1.7kg

    Price you get for scrap would buy you Sweet FA

    Not in he mood for doing the maths but remember aluminium is a very light metal, so 1 ton is a hell of a lot of metal.


    Thats 76.5 pence you could buy a couple of mars bars. :D:D

    Ademort
    ademort
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  • rolf_f
    rolf_f Posts: 16,015
    philvantwo wrote:
    It'll get recycled, scrap value is about £450 a ton now. Maybe smoggy had best give star aluminium in bridgnorth a call on tuesday and tell them to halt work on their new 2 million pound foundry!

    £450 a ton = 1 ton

    Bike frame weight about 1.7kg

    Price you get for scrap would buy you Sweet FA

    Not in he mood for doing the maths but remember aluminium is a very light metal, so 1 ton is a hell of a lot of metal.

    This is the one time you wish you had bought an full suspension Apollo BSO - the £450 would be pretty useful! :lol:
    Faster than a tent.......
  • Ben6899
    Ben6899 Posts: 9,686
    Leave it at the end of the drive and the pikeys will take it. That worked for my parent's fridge-freezer and - regrettably - their barbecue, which was in fact still needed.
    Ben

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