Selling carbide scrap in Utah, from Logan to St. George

Utah had 255 incorporated cities and towns in the 2025 population estimates, and Ogden Valley and Spring Lake incorporated after July 1, 2025, too late for that count. Every one of them is inside our pickup area.

The Wasatch Front is four counties: Salt Lake, Utah, Davis and Weber. Their communities added 36,730 residents between 2023 and 2024, 72.9% of the state's growth. A few cities, in the Utah Population Committee's July 1, 2025 estimates:

• Salt Lake City 221,118 in Salt Lake County and Ogden 87,469 in Weber County
• Provo 117,454 in Utah County
• Logan 56,857 in Cache County
• St. George 107,835 in Washington County and Cedar City 43,803 in Iron County
• Vernal 10,193 in Uintah County and Roosevelt 6,827 in Duchesne County

Sources: Gardner Institute, 2025 city and town estimates; Gardner Institute, subcounty estimates fact sheet (May 2026); Gardner Institute, Wasatch Front growth release (June 2025); Utah Population Committee, subcounty dataset (May 2026).

Utah regulates metal dealers in Utah Code 76-6-1402 to 76-6-1409.1. The rules apply to regulated metal, defined as "any item composed primarily of nonferrous metal", plus named metals and items such as nickel, chromium and stainless steel. The statute names none of tungsten, tungsten carbide or cobalt, and it is silent on whether cemented carbide counts. For a seller of regulated metal, the law asks for:

• Photo ID: a valid US federal or state photo ID, such as a driver license, passport or military ID, with its type and number recorded. No ID, no sale.
• A record: your name and residence, the metal's description and weight, the price per pound and amount paid, and the date, time and place, kept at least three years.
• A signed certificate that you have the legal right to sell, and a photo of you at the sale or a legible copy of your ID.
• Age and hours: sellers must be 18 or older, and dealers may buy only between 6 a.m. and 7 p.m.

If police have reasonable cause to think metal is stolen, they may issue a written hold notice, and the dealer may not process or move that metal for 60 days unless police or a court release it sooner.

An established business account with a valid business license is exempt from the government-item and suspect-metal rules when the dealer keeps the company's list of authorized employees and deals only with them, holds proof that any verified employee may sell, or pays by check to the business. Such accounts are also excepted from the seller-information duty, though every purchase is still logged. To see Utah beside California, Arizona and Nevada, read scrap metal laws in CA, AZ, UT and NV. We pay cash where state law allows, and Utah law does not set a cash limit for scrap metal.

Sources: Utah Code Title 76, Chapter 6, Part 14; Utah Code 76-6-1402 (definitions); Utah Code 76-6-1403 (records); Utah Code 76-6-1405 (identification, age); Utah Code 76-6-1406 (hours, business accounts); Utah Code 76-6-1409 (hold notice).