A renovation or a demolition produces windows and doors by the dozen, and the frames are aluminium, a metal that recyclers want. Most of the work is separating the frame from everything else that comes with it. This guide covers what we could find on selling frames as scrap, why contamination matters, where drop-off is available and what to ask a yard. The sources are blogs, recycler pages and the industry body, and most of the detail on prices and yields is missing, so we give no prices. Our search found nothing on glass removal, lead paint on old frames or reselling whole windows, and we say so below. It fits beside our guides to scrap aluminium prices and scrapping an air conditioner. ScrapTrade runs a scrap marketplace and has a commercial interest in the scrap trade.
Frames as scrap
One blog says old window frames are a solid form of scrap metal that buyers actively seek and that a modest renovation can yield 20 to 50 kilograms or more. That is a blog estimate and not a verified figure. A Perth yard says it handles windows, doors, fences and other aluminium products, and a recycler guide says numerous commercial metal recyclers in Australia pay for scrap. Cleanaway lists aluminium drop-off at transfer stations around Australia, and it offers collection and recycling of aluminium waste for commercial and industrial clients.
Contamination is the issue
Industry sources say aluminium smelters cannot safely accept old scrap whose composition is unknown or which is contaminated, and the Aluminium Council puts exports at more than 95 percent of Australia's scrap aluminium. For a seller, the practical point is that a frame with its glass, rubber seals, steel screws, hinges and locks still attached is mixed material, and a yard will price it as such, or deduct. Taking it apart is the work that earns the better rate. We did not find a yard's published rule on window frames, so ask.
Taking a window apart
- Remove the glass. We found no source on how to do it safely or where glass goes, so ask the yard or a glazier, and take care.
- Strip fittings. Handles, locks, hinges, screws and steel reinforcement come off and are sorted by metal. Brass and stainless fittings have their own markets, as our guide to scrap brass prices explains.
- Remove rubber and plastic. Seals and weather strips are not metal.
- Separate the aluminium. Keep clean frames together, and ask whether painted or anodised frames are graded differently.
We did not find a source on lead paint on old frames. If a frame is old and painted, check your state EPA or WorkSafe guidance before cutting or stripping it.
Reuse before scrap
Windows in good condition may have buyers as windows, through salvage yards and builders. We found no source on second-hand window resale, so treat it as unconfirmed and ask a salvage yard before you scrap a window that is intact. Timber frames are a different material, and our guide to reclaimed timber and bricks covers that side.
Questions to ask a yard
- Do you take frames with the glass out, or whole?
- Do you want fittings removed, and what is deducted if they are left on?
- Do you price painted, anodised and bare aluminium differently?
- Do you take extrusions in bulk, and do you collect? Our aluminium extrusion price page covers extrusion.
- What identification do you need?
Rules when you sell
Scrap metal dealing is regulated by the states, and the common elements in what we read are dealer registration, transaction records, identification and, in some states, a cash ban. We did not research aluminium separately, and the sources did not say whether any rule is specific to it. Our guide to scrapping copper cable summarises what we found by state, and the rules are changing, so ask your yard what it needs from you before you load the car.
Where ScrapTrade fits
A few frames belong at the local yard. A window installer, a builder or a demolition crew with a quantity of stripped aluminium frames, or a mix of aluminium, brass and stainless from a job, may find the marketplace useful. It is free to list with no commission, you agree terms in chat and the buyer's 5 percent deposit sits in escrow once a bid is accepted. Both businesses and individuals can sell after verification, and traders in more than 50 countries bid. We could not confirm how frames are graded there, so ask cs@scraptrade.com.au first.
What we could not verify
- What any frame fetches in Australia. We give no prices.
- Typical yields. The 20 to 50 kilogram figure is one blog's.
- How to remove glass, and where it goes.
- Lead paint handling on old frames.
- Second-hand window resale.
- Whether ScrapTrade grades window frames.
Frequently asked questions
Can I sell old aluminium window frames for scrap?
Yes. Yards and recyclers take them, and clean frames earn more than mixed ones.
Do I need to take the glass out?
Ask the yard. We found no source on glass, so do not assume it is accepted.
What spoils a load of frames?
Steel, rubber, glass and unknown metals, which make scrap mixed or contaminated.
Can I drop frames at a transfer station?
Cleanaway lists aluminium drop-off at transfer stations around Australia, so check yours.
Can I list window frames on ScrapTrade?
Verified sellers can list scrap. Ask support about frames.
Sources
- A blog post on selling aluminium window frames as scrap, a Perth yard page, recycler guides and Cleanaway's aluminium pages, as summarised in search results.
- Aluminium Council statements on scrap aluminium exports and contamination, as summarised in search results.
- ScrapTrade website, accessed November 2026.
General information only, not safety or financial advice. Yards and rules vary.