Learn About Our Receipts – Weights & More

Posted: January 3, 2023


We want to talk about some simple words you probably have seen dozens of times but never really looked at. Every time that you cash your scrap receipt weights, it will have three words on it:

  • Gross
  • Tare
  • Net

Each of these words is very significant, and you should always watch out for them when you sell your scrap.

What does “Gross” Weight mean?

Gross weight is the overall weight of an item or object.

What about scrap? This is the weight of the entire load that you have per item. For example, you have a 5-gallon bucket full of brass that weighs 75 pounds, including the bucket; that weight (75 pounds) is the GROSS weight of the item.

What does “Tare” Weight mean?

Tare weight is the weight of an item removed and weighed separately from the original item or load.

What about scrap? After your bucket is dumped out the scale manager puts the empty bucket on the scale, and it reads 2 pounds, that weight is called the TARE, and it will be deducted from the GROSS to get the net weight.

What does “Net” Weight mean?

Net weight is the final result of subtracting the tare weight from the gross weight.

What about for scrap? This will be the actual weight of the brass that you will get paid for and, in this example, will be 73 pounds (75 – 2 = 73). You can now take the NET weight and multiply it be the amount per pound that your scrap yard is paying, lets say $1.00 per pound is their brass price: $1.00 * 73 = $73.00, and that will be what you get paid for all of your hard work.

What is the Deduction weight in receipts?

Sometimes you may see the word deduction pop up on your Rockaway Recycling ticket, where many problems happen, and questions pop up. What if you were selling that same bucket of brass, and you had it sitting outside the night before you sold it, and there was a rainstorm, and water was collected into the bucket?

When you get to the scrap yard, your GROSS weight is 85 pounds, but when the scale manager dumps your bucket of brass out of waterfalls out, they know that the weight will be off. Water, ice, rocks, and dirt are very heavy, and scale managers always watch out for these items. You will see a DEDUCTION on your receipt for mixed non-metals.

We hope that this clears things up when you are looking at your receipts and that you will get a good idea of what is happening the next time you go to sell your scrap metal.

(Last Modified: March 29th, 2024, 9:00 am)
Metal/MaterialCurrent Price
$3.55/lb
$3.25/lb
$3.05/lb
$1.15/lb
$2.30/lb
Insulated Cable $2.45/lb
$2.62/lb
Copper Transformers $0.13-$0.32/lb
Small Electric Motors $0.20-$0.28/lb
CHECK SCRAP PRICES

If you have any questions about your receipt or our scales, be sure to contact us.