Short answer: Cable scrap in Abu Dhabi is graded by what carries the current and what surrounds it. Copper conductor sits above aluminium, thick single-core sits above thin multicore, and armour and heavy insulation lower the metal share. Keep drums labelled and offcuts sorted by type, and the rate follows the cable, not a guess.
Every project in Abu Dhabi ends with cable nobody needs. The electrical contractor ordered a few drums extra to be safe. A design change left a run of armoured cable unused. A factory upgrade pulled out kilometres of old wiring, and the offcuts from the new install sit in bags by the substation. Selling cable scrap in Abu Dhabi is easy. Selling it at the right grade takes a little order before the truck comes.
This article is for project managers, procurement teams and facility managers who are holding surplus cable and want to understand what decides its value.
Where surplus cable comes from on a project
Most of what we collect falls into two groups, and they are handled differently.
Full and part drums
Drums left over at handover, usually still wrapped or with a few hundred metres cut off. The cable is new, the sheath is printed with its specification, and the drum carries a label from the manufacturer. Before you sell a full drum as scrap, ask whether it has a use on your next job or in your store. New cable is worth more as cable than as metal. When it is genuinely surplus, a labelled drum is the easiest cable we buy, because the grade is written on it.
Offcuts and stripped-out cable
Short ends from terminations, tails cut off at panels, and old cable pulled out during a retrofit or demolition. This is where the mix gets messy: different sizes, copper and aluminium together, lugs and glands still on the ends, sometimes cable ties, conduit and trunking wrapped around the bundle. It still sells well, but only after sorting.
On a project, check who owns the surplus before it leaves. Depending on the contract, leftover cable may belong to the client, not the contractor. A short release letter from the right party keeps everyone clean at the gate.
Copper or aluminium conductor: how do you tell?
This is the first question, because it splits the cable into two different metals with different markets. Both copper and aluminium are traded daily on the London Metal Exchange, and the gap between them is wide.
- Read the sheath. Most power cable is printed with the conductor material, size and type, for example "Cu/XLPE/SWA/PVC" or "Al/XLPE/PVC".
- Cut the end. Copper is reddish orange. Aluminium is dull silver. Tinned copper looks silver too, but it is much heavier for the same size and shows copper colour where it is scratched.
- Check the weight. A copper cable is roughly three times heavier than an aluminium cable of the same cross-section.
Keep the two apart from the start. A bag of copper tails with a few aluminium ends in it gets graded down to the lower metal, or sorted by hand at our yard, and that time is part of the rate. For more on how copper itself is graded once it is out of the cable, see our guide to copper scrap grades. Aluminium conductor follows the same logic as other aluminium, covered in our article on aluminium from factories and sites.
Armoured, unarmoured and why the insulation matters
Cable value comes down to recovery: how much of the weight on the scale is the metal you are being paid for. Everything else, plastic insulation, bedding, steel armour, fillers, is weight that has to be removed and disposed of.
Armoured cable has a layer of galvanised steel wire (SWA) or, on single-core, aluminium wire (AWA) under the outer sheath. It protects the cable underground but it adds weight that is not the conductor. Heavy XLPE or LSZH insulation does the same. Thin control and instrument cable is mostly plastic by weight, with fine copper strands inside.
| Cable type | Conductor | What surrounds it | Metal recovery |
|---|---|---|---|
| Single-core power cable, large size, unarmoured | Copper | Insulation and sheath only | Highest |
| Multicore power cable, armoured | Copper | Insulation, bedding, steel wire armour, sheath | Middle |
| Control, instrument and data cable | Fine copper strands | Mostly plastic, often screened | Lower |
| Power cable, any build | Aluminium | Insulation, sometimes armour | Separate aluminium cable grade |
| Mixed offcuts with lugs, glands and ties | Mixed | Everything above, plus fittings | Lowest until sorted |
The table is about the share of metal, not a fixed price. The actual rate also moves with the metal market on the day we quote.
Should you strip cable before selling it?
For most sites, no. Stripping cable by hand is slow, it needs the right tools, and the insulation you take off still has to go somewhere legal. On thick single-core copper, a site with spare labour and a proper stripping machine can gain something. On armoured multicore and thin control cable, the effort rarely pays back.
Never burn cable to get the copper out. It is illegal, the smoke is toxic, and burnt copper grades lower than clean stripped copper anyway because the heat oxidises it. If anyone offers to take your cable and burn it off somewhere, that is a load you do not want your company name attached to.
What does pay back is simple preparation:
- Cut off lugs, glands and termination kits, and keep the brass glands in their own bag. Brass is a separate grade.
- Remove cable ties, tape, conduit and trunking from bundles.
- Sort by conductor first, then by type: power, armoured, control.
- Keep it dry and off the sand. Wet, sandy cable weighs more and grades lower.
Keeping drums labelled and loads tidy
A drum with its label and a printed sheath lets us grade it from the yard office. A drum with the label torn off means cutting samples. If drums have sat outside in the sun, take a photo of the label before it fades completely.
Wooden drums are bulky and can be awkward on site. Our hiab trucks lift full drums, and the two hydraulic skip trucks take loose offcuts. Our crew can cut and load on your site, with the hazard assessment and working method agreed before the truck arrives under our ISO 45001 system. We collect across Musaffah, ICAD and KIZAD.
Every load is weighed and you get the weight, grade and rate on paper, which matters when a project has to account for surplus materials at close-out. The price we quote is the price we pay, with nothing quietly deducted at the weighbridge. Our ISO 9001 system covers how each load is quoted, weighed and recorded. You can see the full range of what we take on our services page.
What to send us for a quote
- Photos of the drum labels and of the sheath printing on loose cable.
- Approximate quantity: number of drums and sizes, or the rough volume of offcuts.
- Whether copper and aluminium are already separated.
- Site location, access, and whether a forklift is available for drums.
Our office is open Monday to Friday, 7 am to 4 pm. Call or WhatsApp +971 55 229 2646, ring +971 2 622 4258, or send the details through the form on our contact page.
Common questions
Is armoured cable worth less than unarmoured cable?
Per kilo on the scale, usually yes. The steel or aluminium wire armour adds weight that is not the conductor, so the share of copper in each kilo is lower. A large single-core unarmoured copper cable has the highest recovery.
Do you buy aluminium conductor cable?
Yes. It is graded separately from copper cable because aluminium is a different metal with a different market. Keep it apart from copper so neither load gets graded down.
Should we strip the insulation before selling?
For most sites it does not pay. Hand stripping is slow and the insulation still needs legal disposal. Cutting off lugs and glands, removing ties and sorting by type gives a better return for the effort.
Can we sell unused cable drums left over at project handover?
Yes, once you have confirmed who owns the surplus under your contract. A labelled drum with printed sheath is easy to grade. If the cable is still usable on another job, it is worth checking that first.
What paperwork do we get for the cable we sell?
Every load is weighed, and you receive the weight, grade and rate on paper. That record is useful when a project has to account for surplus materials at close-out. The quoted price is the price paid.
