What to do with Old Spark Plugs

Can you scrap spark plugs
What to do with old spark plugs? Had a good buddy of mine ask me the other day about spark plug scrap value. Over the years, he said that, he had managed to fill up an old shoe box in his garage with old spark plugs and wondered if I knew what to do with old spark plugs.

I told him that there is really only two things that you can do with them and the first is obvious, throw them into the garbage. The second is something that I have done for years and that is scrap them like all other metal that I come across.





Auto scrap is very valuable and like many other scrap car parts, old spark plugs are not to be ignored. Scrapping old spark plugs admittedly is not something that I would recommend doing every time that you perform a tune-up.

Four, six or eight spark plugs are still worth money but not worth the trip to the scrap yard if that is all that you have.

There are two parts of the spark plug that make it valuable auto scrap. The shell, this is the bottom portion of the plug that gets screwed into the engine block. The stud, this is the top of the old plug.

Unless you have platinum scrap spark plugs, both the shell and stud are made of nickel plated steel.

The center of the old spark plug has no auto scrap value because it is ceramic. You can break it away, from the other metals.

So how can you make money selling old spark plugs to scrap yards? You need to have a source and your first choice should definitely be auto repair shops.

First, think of how many there are actually out there. One of their many services is replacing old spark plugs. Most of them are open all year round, 6 and sometimes 7 days a week.

These shops provide services for customers all day long. This is a low number but let’s say that 1 auto shop in a week, replaced the spark plugs on the vehicles of 1000 customers.

If each of the vehicles has 6 spark plugs that means that the shop has 6000 old spark plugs in their dumpster out back.

If it takes 10 spark plugs to equal 1 pound, then that would mean there is close to 600 pounds of nickel plated steel in that dumpster.





You can clearly see how the money quickly adds up for the auto scrap but this is only based off of 1 auto repair shop. I do not advise you to go through any repair shops dumpster without permission because in most instances it is considered private property.

What you can do just like I have done, is speak with the owners and arrange for a weekly pickup. I initially only asked for old spark plugs but received all kinds of other auto scrap.

Those dumpsters are not free and every time that they fill it up, they have to pay for the truck to come and empty it.

If your agreement to haul away all of the auto scrap saves them money they should have no problem accepting your offer.

Additionally, be sure that you show up on time and on the day that you are supposed to show up to pick up the scrap car parts.

Now that you know what to do with old spark plugs, instead of them just being considered some filthy failed part on your car or truck, you can now make some extra money from them instead of simply throwing them into the garbage.