Is it normal for aluminium cans to be priced separately from other clean aluminium scrap?
Short answer: Yes. Used beverage cans (UBC) are a standardised, globally traded commodity with a consistent alloy specification, which lets buyers bale and export them without extra sorting or testing. Mixed "clean aluminium" scrap has more variable alloy content, so it's priced and handled differently even though both are legitimately clean, sortable metal.
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List Free →Cans are a commodity in their own right
UBC is made from a small, well-known set of alloys produced to consistent specs worldwide, so a bale of cans from anywhere is chemically similar enough that large recyclers can buy, bale, and ship it without testing every load — which is why it trades as its own line item with its own published price.
Why that differs from mixed aluminium
A pile of clean offcuts from different sources is genuinely free of contamination, but can still mix several alloy series, so a buyer either tests it or prices it more conservatively than a known single-spec commodity like UBC.
What this means for you
Keeping cans in a separate container from general aluminium scrap from the start is usually worth it — mixing them doesn’t contaminate anything chemically, but it can mean the whole lot gets priced at the lower mixed rate instead of cans getting their own, often more competitive, price.
How ScrapTrade Makes This Easier
ScrapTrade’s category system treats UBC as its own listing type, so can sellers get matched with buyers actively sourcing that specific commodity rather than a generic mixed-aluminium buyer.
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