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Arizona carbide scrap, picked up in all 91 cities and towns
We pick up carbide scrap in Arizona, in Phoenix, Tucson or any other city or town in the state, after quoting the lot from your photos on the quote form.
Ninety-one places on the list, Tusayan included
Arizona has 91 incorporated cities and towns, according to the League of Arizona Cities and Towns, and we pick up in each of them. Arizona counts cities and towns separately.
The League's January 2025 guide lists every one with its year of incorporation. The list opens with Tusayan, Star Valley, Dewey-Humboldt, Maricopa and Sahuarita.
The Census Bureau put the Phoenix-Mesa-Chandler metro at 5,228,938 residents on July 1, 2025, after it added 59,065 people in a year, the fourth biggest gain of any US metro. Maricopa County alone had 4,689,558, fourth among US counties, and the city of Phoenix, at 1,665,481, ranks fifth in the country. Queen Creek grew 8.2 percent that year, to 89,770.
Sources: League of Arizona Cities and Towns; League of Arizona Cities and Towns, Municipal Incorporation in Arizona (January 2025); US Census Bureau, Vintage 2025 county and metro estimates; US Census Bureau, Vintage 2025 city and town estimates.
What Arizona digs, builds and machines
The USGS ties carbide to four industries: in 2025 about 60 percent of the tungsten used in the US went into cemented carbide parts, mainly for construction, metalworking, mining, and oil and gas drilling. Three of them show in Arizona's numbers.
| Industry | What the Arizona record shows | Carbide it wears out |
|---|---|---|
| Mining | About 70 percent of US copper output in 2025, the most of any state, and a new copper mine started production that year. The USGS ranked Arizona second among states by nonfuel mineral production value in 2025. | Rock drilling and surface mining tools |
| Manufacturing | About 192,091 people at 6,018 manufacturing establishments in 2025 (Office of Economic Opportunity estimates). The largest sectors by employment are aerospace products and parts, semiconductors and other electronic components, and medical equipment and supplies. | Inserts, end mills and drills; one insert may machine the turbine blades of an aircraft engine |
| Construction | Maricopa County gained about 42,000 housing units between 2024 and 2025, more than any other US county, for the second year in a row. | Rock drills and road chisels that remove old tarmac |
Medical device work uses titanium for joints, bone screws and dental implants, the USGS notes, and we buy titanium and the other exotic metals alongside the carbide. Worn mining and road bits count as carbide scrap too.
Sources: USGS Mineral Commodity Summaries 2026, tungsten; USGS Mineral Commodity Summaries 2026, copper; USGS Mineral Commodity Summaries 2026; Arizona Commerce Authority, Qualified Facility report CY2025; US Census Bureau, Vintage 2025 city and town estimates; ITIA, cemented carbides; ITIA, applications and markets (end use); ITIA, applications and markets; USGS Professional Paper 1802-T, titanium.
Arizona's seller checklist: ID, fingerprint, receipt
Arizona's scrap metal law does not list metals one by one: its definition mentions only cables and scrap vehicles, and names neither tungsten nor carbide. Its record rules are written for scrap metal in general.
- Age. A scrap metal seller must be at least 16.
- Who you are. Name, physical description, address, date of birth and signature, plus a photocopy of a current driver license, nonoperating ID license, or tribal or US military photo ID.
- Photo and print. A photo, video or digital record of you, your right index fingerprint, and the plate number and state of the vehicle that delivers the scrap.
- The material. When and where the sale happened, a photo of the scrap with its description and weight, and what it sold for.
- Your copy. The law calls for an on-site receipt for every transaction, showing the date, time and place, a description and weight of the scrap, and the dollar amount.
Records are kept two years in all, the first year at the business. Each reportable purchase goes electronically to the Department of Public Safety within 24 hours; purchases from industrial accounts or other dealers are excepted.
Sources: A.R.S. 44-1641; A.R.S. 44-1642; A.R.S. 44-1644.
Three sale sizes under Arizona's payment rules
Arizona's money rules turn on dollar amounts, not the metal. For a carbide sale by a seller who is not an industrial account:
| Value of the sale | How it can be paid | Seven-day hold |
|---|---|---|
| $100 or less | On site, cash allowed, but only one cash transaction per seller per day | No |
| Over $100, under $300 | On site, same cash limit | Yes: the dealer keeps it seven days after filing its report, as received |
| $300 or more | Not on site: a check or money order mailed to the address on your ID | Yes |
The $300 rule has exceptions in the statute, and one vehicle load may not be split into smaller transactions to get around these rules. Before a larger sale, check that the address on your ID is current, since the payment goes there. Our scrap metal laws guide puts this table beside the rules in California, Utah and Nevada.
An industrial account is a business that files, or must file, monthly transaction privilege tax returns and is reasonably expected to generate the scrap it sells, such as a machine shop selling its own worn tooling, or a government body. Its sales skip the seven-day hold and the 24-hour report, and the mailed-payment rule does not apply if it preregisters its authorized selling employees each year.
Sources: A.R.S. 44-1641; A.R.S. 44-1642; A.R.S. 44-1644.
How an Arizona pickup goes
Start with the quote form: the form your carbide is in, a rough weight and a few photos. Email help@carbidebuyersusa.com or call (877) 899-5778.
Say yes to the quote and we come to your shop, job site, yard or home in any Arizona city or town. Have your ID ready, and if your business is a preregistered industrial account, send the employee it registered to sell. We load the material and pay you as the table above sets out: a check or money order mailed to you at $300 or more, cash only where state law allows.
Sort first: carbide in one container, high-speed steel and other steel in another, sludge sealed. To send it instead, ship it to us from Arizona or anywhere else in the US; we pay the shipping. Each step, quote to payment, is on how selling works.
Sources: A.R.S. 44-1642.
We come to you in four states, and pay the shipping from the other forty-six.
- California, Arizona, Utah and Nevada: we drive to your shop, yard or home, in any city.
- Every other state: you send it, and the shipping is on us to pay.
Common questions
Why would my Arizona carbide payment come in the mail?
Arizona bars on-site payment for a scrap sale at or above the threshold in the table above, so the check or money order goes to the address on your ID. The statute has exceptions, such as an industrial account that preregisters its selling employees each year.
Do carbide buyers in Arizona take fingerprints?
Arizona law has the dealer record the seller's right index fingerprint and a photo or video of the seller, for scrap metal sales in general.
Carbide recycling in Phoenix: do I have to haul my scrap anywhere?
No. We come to you in Phoenix, Mesa, Chandler or any other Arizona city or town, load it there and buy it. If you would rather ship it, we pay the shipping.
Will you take titanium and nickel alloys on an Arizona pickup?
Yes, we also buy exotic metals and alloys. Keep each metal separate and list it on the quote form.
More for sellers
Pickup areas
We come to you in California, Arizona, Utah and Nevada
Learn more
Scrap metal laws in CA, AZ, UT and NV
ID, records, holds and cash rules where we pick up
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Mining bits and road teeth
Button bits, rock bits and road-milling teeth
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End mills, drills and reamers
Solid carbide end mills, drills, reamers and burs
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Selling steps
From photos and a weight to getting paid
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Nevada
Las Vegas, Reno and the towns in between
Learn moreReady to sell your carbide?
Send a few photos and a rough weight. From any state, you ship it and we cover the shipping; in California, Arizona, Utah and Nevada, we drive out to you.