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Scrap carbide in California, collected where it piles up
Selling scrap carbide in California starts with a few photos and a rough weight on our quote form. Then we drive to you, in any city in the state, and buy the lot, from worn inserts to sludge.
All 483 of them, from Los Angeles to Mountain House
California has 483 incorporated cities. The newest, Mountain House, became the 483rd in July 2024, and it is on our pickup list exactly like Los Angeles.
The Department of Finance's estimates for January 1, 2026 rank the ten largest cities as Los Angeles, San Diego, San Jose, San Francisco, Fresno, Sacramento, Long Beach, Oakland, Bakersfield and Anaheim. The state's Employment Development Department lists the metro areas by their official names, among them Los Angeles-Long Beach-Glendale, Anaheim-Santa Ana-Irvine, Riverside-San Bernardino-Ontario, San Diego-Chula Vista-Carlsbad, San Jose-Sunnyvale-Santa Clara and Sacramento-Roseville-Folsom.
A shop in one of those, or in a small city far from all of them, books a pickup the same way.
Sources: Mountain House city government; California Department of Finance, E-1 estimates (January 1, 2026); California EDD, metropolitan areas.
Carbide recycling in California starts at the spindle
The USGS estimates that 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.
Start with metalworking. GO-Biz, the governor's business office, says California has the largest manufacturing workforce in the country, about 1.2 million jobs, and about $390 billion of manufacturing GDP in 2025. A shop that turns or mills parts goes through inserts (small replaceable cutting tips) and end mills (rotary cutters with spiral flutes), and the worn ones are what we buy.
Aerospace adds to the pile. GO-Biz counts about 110,000 aerospace jobs in the state, more than any other, and the International Tungsten Industry Association (ITIA) notes that one carbide insert may machine the turbine blades of an aircraft engine. The USGS says most US titanium metal went into aerospace in 2025, and we buy titanium scrap too.
The USGS also ranked California fifth among states by nonfuel mineral production value in 2025, and the ITIA lists rock drills and road chisels for old tarmac as typical carbide construction products. Worn road milling and mining bits are carbide scrap like any other.
Sources: USGS Mineral Commodity Summaries 2026, tungsten; GO-Biz, manufacturing; GO-Biz, aerospace and defense; ITIA, applications and markets (end use); USGS Mineral Commodity Summaries 2026, titanium; USGS Mineral Commodity Summaries 2026; ITIA, applications and markets.
What a California scrap sale puts on paper
California's law, written for the buyer, covers junk, defined as all secondhand and used machinery and all ferrous and nonferrous scrap metals and alloys (Bus. & Prof. Code 21600). The code's list of scrap metals and alloys names nonferrous materials, stainless steel and nickel, but not tungsten, tungsten carbide or titanium. Expect these general record rules at any scrap metal sale:
- Your name and ID. A method of identification, such as a valid driver's license or a state-issued ID card.
- What changed hands. The item type, quantity and any visible identification numbers, and a statement that you own the material or who you got it from.
- The 2025 additions. AB 476 (Chapter 694, Statutes of 2025) expanded the record. As the Senate Public Safety Committee described the June 2025 version, the bill adds the time, amount paid, employee's name, weight and any engraved marks or serial numbers, and a signed seller statement with legal name, date of birth and place of residence.
The buyer reports the records to the police chief or sheriff daily or by the next business day and keeps them at least two years. A peace officer with probable cause to believe property is stolen may place a written hold on it for 90 days.
Sources: California Attorney General, Information Bulletin 2025-DLE-12; California Attorney General, Secondhand Dealer and Pawnbroker Laws (2012); Assembly Business and Professions Committee, 2025 legislative summary; Senate Public Safety Committee, AB 476 analysis.
The thumbprint rule names four materials, and carbide is not one
The California rule with the thumbprint is section 21608.5. For the material it covers, the buyer takes a photo or video of the seller, a copy of a photo ID showing an address, a photo of the material and a thumbprint, kept two years. Payment is by cash or check: a check may be mailed to the address on the ID, or the seller may collect the cash or check on or after the third business day after the sale.
That section reaches only nonferrous material: copper, copper alloys, stainless steel or aluminum. Tungsten carbide, titanium, nickel and cobalt are not on the list. Stainless steel is, which is one more reason to keep stainless parts out of your carbide bucket.
It also does not apply when the buyer has the selling business's name, address and phone, its business license or tax ID number, and a copy of the delivering person's driver's license. A 2019 law added general use prepaid cards as a way to pay for nonferrous material.
Sources: AB 1508, Chapter 531, Statutes of 2012; California Attorney General, Secondhand Dealer and Pawnbroker Laws (2012); California Senate, 2019 summary of chaptered legislation.
Booking a California pickup, step by step
- Send the basics. On the quote form, tell us what form the carbide is in and about how much it weighs, and add photos. Email help@carbidebuyersusa.com or call (877) 899-5778 if you prefer.
- Get our quote. We price that lot on its own, from the photos, form and weight.
- Sort before we arrive. Carbide apart from steel, high-speed steel and stainless, all of it dry, sludge in a sealed pail. The sorting guide shows how.
- Have your ID out. If you sell for a company, have its name, address, phone and license or tax ID number too.
- We come and load it. At your shop, yard or home, anywhere in the state, and we pay you, in cash where state law allows.
To send it in instead, box it up and ship your carbide to us; we pay the shipping. How selling works has the full route from quote form to payment, and the scrap metal laws guide sets California next to the other three pickup states.
Sources: California Attorney General, Information Bulletin 2025-DLE-12; California Attorney General, Secondhand Dealer and Pawnbroker Laws (2012).
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
What will carbide buyers in California write down about me?
Your name and ID, what you sold, and a statement that you own it. Under the 2025 changes described above, that statement is signed and carries your legal name, date of birth and place of residence.
Do I need to give a thumbprint to sell tungsten carbide in California?
The thumbprint rule sits in the section for copper, copper alloys, stainless steel and aluminum, and tungsten carbide is not on that list. The general record of your name and ID still applies.
Can titanium and nickel alloy scrap ride along on the same pickup?
Yes, we also buy exotic metals and alloys. Keep each metal in its own labeled container and list it on the quote form.
Can I ship my carbide from California instead of booking a pickup?
Yes. Shipping works from any state, and the shipping cost is ours to pay. Get the quote first, then follow the shipping page.
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
Learn more
Selling steps
From photos and a weight to getting paid
Learn more
Used inserts
Used indexable inserts, coated or not, chipped or worn
Learn more
Titanium
Titanium solids, turnings and sheet
Learn more
Ship your carbide
Packing heavy carbide so it arrives in one piece
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.