Scrap metal

You will need to complete a tax check on GOV.UK when you apply or renew your licence.

You need a licence to buy and sell scrap metal.

There are two types of scrap meal licence:

Site collectors licence, which allows you to buy and sell scrap metal from a fixed location within the council area
Collector’s licence, which allows you to travel within the council area to collect scrap metal. You may not take this metal back to a site that you run within the council area in order to sell it.

Scrap Metal Dealers Guidance Notes - pdf - 111 Kb

Basic Disclosure certificate

Before you apply you'll need a Basic Disclosure Certificate from the Disclosure Barring Service for yourself and any person listed on the application, including the site manager (if applying for a site licence), each partner if a partnership, and, if a company, for the director(s), company secretary and shadow director.

When assessing applicants, partnerships or a company's suitability to hold a scrap metal dealer's licence, we will check each Basic Disclosure certificate against the list of convictions for relevant offences. Having a conviction for a relevant offence may not automatically prevent you from having a licence.

Apply for a basic disclosure certificate