Lead scrap can come from a range of materials, including roof flashing, old pipework, wheel weights and other industrial or workshop items. At Johnny Metal Recycling, we assess lead based on its grade, cleanliness and overall condition to provide competitive lead scrap prices in Melbourne.
If you have lead scrap to sell, call 0449 894 456 for today’s price, or send us a photo and a rough weight and we’ll come back with a quote.
What drives lead scrap prices in Melbourne?
Four things, and the first one outweighs the rest.
The global lead market. Lead is traded worldwide and every yard in the city prices off the same market. When it moves, lead scrap prices in Melbourne move with it. That’s why we price your load against the market the morning you sell, instead of printing a number and leaving it up for six months.
Grade. Clean soft lead and battery lead are two different products at two different rates. More on that below.
Contamination. Steel cores, plastic coating, paint, timber, concrete, rubber. None of it is lead and none of it pays lead money, but all of it lands on the scales.
Volume. Lead is dense, so loads add up fast. Bigger loads cost less to handle per kilo and that shows in the rate. Free pickup applies over 500kg, which with lead is a smaller pile than you’d think.
Lead scrap price per kg in Melbourne, by grade
We give you lead scrap prices per kg on the day you sell rather than publishing a fixed rate, and there’s a reason for that. A figure typed up months ago tells you nothing useful about what your load is worth this afternoon.
What we can set out is the order. Here’s how the grades rank against each other, best to worst.
Clean soft lead
Sheet lead off a roof, flashing, old pipe, bars, blocks and remelt sows. No paint, no steel, no timber attached. This is the top of the lead range and the grade worth separating properly.
Wheel weights and range lead
Wheel weights, recovered shot and range lead. Good material, though the steel clips on wheel weights either come off or come out of the weight. Tyre shops running volume are worth a standing arrangement.
Battery lead
Lead-acid car, truck, forklift and industrial batteries. Priced as whole batteries by weight, not as recovered lead, because the acid, plastic case and separators all have to be dealt with. See the section below.
Cable sheathing and steel-encased lead
Lead-sheathed cable and lead wrapped around or bonded to steel. We buy it, but it’s priced lower because the lead has to be separated from everything else before it’s worth anything.
Specialist grades
Antimonial lead, solder bars and wire, linotype, tin-based and tungsten-based material. These are priced on assessment — some of them are worth considerably more than ordinary lead, so it’s worth a call rather than tipping them in with the soft lead.
For the current lead scrap price on your grade, ring us. We quote on the spot and what we quote is what you get paid.
Battery lead scrap prices
Batteries are their own conversation, and they’re worth more than most people assume.
We take car and truck batteries, forklift batteries, excavator and heavy equipment batteries, and household cells. Lead-acid is the one with real weight behind it — a truck battery on its own is a decent weigh-in, and a pallet of them is a proper job.
A few things worth knowing on battery lead scrap prices in Melbourne:
Full detail is on our battery scrap page.
Getting a better lead scrap price
Lead rewards sorting more than most metals, because the grades sit a long way apart, and sorting is the one part of lead scrap prices in Melbourne you control.
Keep clean soft lead on its own. Sheet, pipe and bar with nothing attached is your best-paying material. Don’t bury it under battery cases.
Pull the steel. Clips off wheel weights, cores out of sheathed cable, fixings out of flashing. Steel weighs plenty and pays almost nothing.
Batteries in their own stack. Whole, upright, separate from everything else.
Don’t strip cable yourself if it’s lead-sheathed. It’s slow, it’s messy and the exposure isn’t worth the margin. Bring it as it is.
Leave the surface alone. The dull grey oxide film on old lead is normal and doesn’t change what we pay. Scraping it off is wasted effort.
Bring it in together. Lead is heavy enough that one trip usually beats three, and it gets you into pickup territory faster.
Lead scrap we buy
Clean scrap lead · range lead · wheel weights · lead-acid batteries · recovered shot · tank lead · bars, blocks and remelt sows · soft and mixed lead · antimonial lead · solder bars and wire · linotype lead · tin-based and tungsten-based material · steel-encased lead · lead cable sheathing.
No minimum quantity if you’re dropping off. Free pickup on loads over 500kg, seven days a week, no weekend surcharge. Whatever the grade, we’ll quote lead scrap prices in Melbourne against the market on the day you sell.
Full material detail is on our scrap lead Melbourne page.
How we weigh and pay
Every load is weighed on site on verified digital scales while you watch. No estimating, no number worked out somewhere you can’t see.
Grades get called in front of you too. If we’re pricing something as steel-encased rather than clean soft lead, we’ll show you why, because lead scrap prices in Melbourne only mean something if you can see how the grade was decided.
Payment is same day by bank transfer or cheque. We don’t pay cash — Victoria tightened the rules on cash in the scrap trade back in 2018 and we’ve worked to them ever since. No deductions afterwards and no hidden fees. The quote is the payment.
Lead recycling across Melbourne
We’re based at Braeside and collect right across the south-east and bayside, the eastern and northern corridors, and out west. Pickup runs seven days a week and there’s no surcharge for weekends.
Lead recycling in Melbourne matters more than the tonnage suggests, and it’s part of why lead scrap prices in Melbourne hold up the way they do. Almost all of it goes back into new batteries, and recovering it takes a fraction of the energy of mining and smelting new lead — while keeping a dangerous material out of landfill and out of the water table.
Get today's lead scrap price
Ring 0449 894 456, tell us what grade you think it is and roughly how much there is, and we’ll give you today’s lead scrap price in Melbourne in a couple of minutes. Not sure what grade it is? Describe where it came from and we’ll work it out with you.
Or send photos and an estimated weight through the contact form and we’ll come back wi
Why Choose Us?
With over 6 years of experience, we are trusted scrap car buyers in Melbourne, offering competitive cash for old cars Melbourne residents rely on. Our team specialises in car removal and car recycling Melbourne, ensuring unwanted and scrap vehicles are removed safely and recycled responsibly to support a cleaner and more sustainable future.
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Frequently asked questions
What are the current lead scrap prices in Melbourne?
Lead scrap prices shift daily with the global lead market, so we price each load on the day instead of publishing a fixed rate. Call 0449 894 456 and we’ll give you today’s figure for your grade.
What is the lead scrap price per kg in Melbourne?
That depends on grade. Clean soft lead sits at the top, followed by wheel weights and range lead, then battery lead, with steel-encased lead and cable sheathing at the bottom. Tell us what you’ve got and we’ll quote per kilo.
What are battery lead scrap prices based on?
Can I sell lead scrap in Melbourne without sorting it?
Yes, we take mixed lead. It’ll be priced near the bottom of the range though, and lead grades sit far enough apart that sorting usually pays for the time several times over.
Is there a minimum quantity?
No minimum if you’re dropping off at the yard. Free pickup applies on loads over 500kg — with lead that’s a smaller pile than most people expect.
Is it safe to handle lead scrap myself?
Small quantities of solid lead are manageable with sensible care: gloves, wash your hands afterwards, keep it away from children and food areas. Don’t cut, burn or melt it, and don’t open batteries. For anything large, leaking or mixed through demolition waste, call us before you load it.
How and when do you pay for scrap lead?
Bank transfer or cheque, the same day we collect or you drop off. We don’t pay cash, in line with the Victorian rules introduced in 2018.
Do you collect lead scrap?
Yes, seven days a week with no weekend surcharge, from Braeside across the south-east, bayside, eastern, northern and western suburbs.