The shredder
East Anglia’s only metal shredder
Our shredding plant turns cars, light iron and mixed scrap into clean, furnace-ready shredded steel, and can shred a whole car in around 90 seconds.
Scrap metal & waste recycling · Ipswich, Suffolk
Scrap metal recycling, done properly.
Sell your scrap, hire a skip or clear a whole site with East Anglia’s only metal shredder, backed by nearly a century of family know-how.
Rather talk? 01473 830373 · Mon–Fri 7:30–5, Sat 7:30–12
- Since 1929Family-led, Suffolk-based
- 100%of the metal we take in is recycled
- 90%exported via Felixstowe
The King’s Award for EnterpriseInternational Trade 2023
East Anglia’s only metal shredder
Trusted by households, trade and industry across East Anglia
- The King’s Award for International Trade 2023
- Approved AATF for large domestic appliances
- Suffolk Carbon Charter Bronze award
- Armed Forces Covenant Silver award
Sell your scrap
Every metal. Every grade. A fair price for all of it.
From a bag of copper pipe to a factory’s worth of steel, we buy it all. Because we process everything ourselves and sell direct to customers around the world, more of the value comes back to you.
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29
Copper
Bright wire, pipe, tube and cylinders
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Alloy
Brass
Taps, valves and plumbing fittings
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13
Aluminium
Extrusions, sheet, castings and wheels
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Cu / Al
Insulated cable
Granulated here to 99.95% pure copper
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26
Iron & steel
Light iron, heavy steel, shearing and oversized
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Alloy
Stainless steel
Sinks, sheet, catering kit and offcuts
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82
Lead
Sheet, flashing, pipe and weights
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Vehicles
Scrap cars
End-of-life cars, shredded on site
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WEEE
Large appliances
Treated at our approved facility (AATF)
- Not sure? Send us a photo We’ll tell you what it is and what it’s worth
Selling scrap to Sackers is simple
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Bring it in, or we’ll collect
Drive in to our Great Blakenham yard during opening hours, or book a collection for bigger loads.
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Graded & weighed
Our team sorts your metal by grade and weighs it on our weighbridge, so you’re paid for exactly what you bring.
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Paid by bank transfer
Money goes straight to your account. No cash (it’s the law), no hassle.
Skip & container hire
The right container, right where you need it.
From a one-off 10-yard skip to permanent roll-on roll-off containers with scheduled exchanges, delivered, swapped and collected across Ipswich, Suffolk and Essex.
- Capacity
- 10 yd³ · 7.6 m³
- Footprint
- approx. 3.7 × 1.8 m
- Best for
- Workshop clear-outs, renovations and smaller one-off loads.
- Capacity
- 20 yd³ · 15.3 m³
- Footprint
- approx. 6.1 × 2.4 m
- Best for
- Heavy, bulky metal from manufacturing and engineering.
- Capacity
- 30 yd³ · 22.9 m³
- Footprint
- approx. 6.3 × 2.4 m
- Best for
- Construction, demolition and site clearances.
- Capacity
- 40 yd³ · 30.6 m³
- Footprint
- approx. 6.3 × 2.4 m
- Best for
- High-volume, lighter waste and ongoing commercial contracts.
- One-off hire or permanent containers
- Delivery, exchange and collection on your schedule
- Duty-of-care paperwork with every job
For business
A recycling partner built for industry.
Manufacturers, engineers, builders, farms and garages across East Anglia rely on us to turn their waste into value, with the kit, the people and the paperwork to do it properly.
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Free site audits
We’ll visit, look at your waste streams and recommend the right containers and collection schedule. Free, and with no obligation.
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A dedicated account manager
One point of contact, from your first skip to a large, long-term metal contract.
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Our own specialist fleet
HIAB crane lorries, flatbeds and curtain-siders with forklifts for heavy or awkward loads.
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Site & factory clearances
Dismantling, clearances and tricky access, handled from start to finish.
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Safety, planned in
Risk assessments, method statements, lifting plans and on-site supervision whenever you need them.
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Compliance covered
Waste transfer notes as standard, plus WEEE evidence notes from our approved treatment facility.
Working with
- Manufacturing
- Engineering
- Construction & demolition
- Agriculture
- Garages & motor trade
Man in a Van tipping
Got a van full of waste? Tip it with us.
Bring commercial waste to our Needham Market recycling facility. No booking, no queuing: pay by weight and leave with a waste transfer note. Minimum load half a tonne.
Scale & technology
Big kit. Better recycling. Better value.
We’ve invested in processing most yards simply don’t have, so we can take almost anything, recover more from it and pay fairly for it.
- Tonnes of scrap metal processed every year across our two sites
- 125,000
- Of the metal we take in is recycled. All metals, all grades.
- 100%
- Pure copper recovered from cable by our Turbo Mill
- 99.95%
- Of what we produce is exported through Felixstowe
- 90%
Cable granulation
Turbo Mill: 99.95% pure copper
Our £350,000 Turbo Mill separates insulated cable into pure copper and clean plastic, handling up to 900 tonnes of cable a month.
Sensor sorting
TOMRA metal recovery
A £500,000 investment in sensor technology that finds and recovers valuable metal hidden in mixed waste streams.
We are always looking for ways of improving our processes and getting a purer product in all areas of our business.
From Suffolk to the world
Suffolk scrap. The world’s raw material.
Processed to each customer’s exact specification, 90% of what we produce ships through Felixstowe, Britain’s busiest container port, to buyers all over the world.
That growth earned us The King’s Award for Enterprise: International Trade in 2023, for outstanding growth in overseas trade through Covid, port strikes and soaring costs.
- 60containers of processed metal shipped every week
- An in-house shipping team handling contracts, freight, export documents and trade finance
- Port expertise in the boardroom: our Executive Chairman, Chris Gray, is a former Managing Director of the Port of Felixstowe
Net zero by 2040
Nothing wasted. Net zero by 2040.
Every tonne of metal we recycle is a tonne that doesn’t need to be mined. We recycle 100% of the metal we take in, and we’ve committed to carbon net zero by 2040, a full ten years ahead of the UK government’s target.
95%
Already in place
- Solar panels on site
- Fleet telematics for more efficient driving
- A carbon-free electricity supply
- Motion-activated lighting
- A Cycle to Work scheme
- Our own carbon committee
- Suffolk Carbon Charter Bronze award, working towards Gold
Coming next
- Replacing diesel lorries with electric vehicles
- More solar capacity and hybrid lighting
- Air-source heating
- Variable-speed drives to cut energy spikes
- Tree planting, including a tree for our customers
Since 1929
Nearly a century. Still family-led.
Sackers began in Ipswich around 1929. Almost a hundred years on we’re still family-led, still proudly Suffolk, and still finding better ways to recycle.
- 1929
Founded in Ipswich
Established in Ipswich: one of the UK’s oldest metal recyclers.
- 1977
A new generation
Adrian Dodds joins the family firm for a 43-year career.
- 1980
Sackers Limited
The business is incorporated as Sackers Limited.
- 1990s
Going global
David Dodds starts faxing metal buyers in India: the beginning of our export business.
- 2021
Industry recognition
David is named in Recycling International’s global top 100.
- 2022
The Governor visits
Bank of England Governor Andrew Bailey visits Sackers.
- 2023
The King’s Award
King’s Award for International Trade, and £850k invested in new technology.
- 2040
Net zero
Our target for carbon net zero, ten years ahead of the UK.
I believe honesty, reputation, hard work and trust are extremely important in business.
- Since 1998Vic Kemp, now Operations Manager, joined us as a crane driver
- Since 2009Clare Lanchester has grown our in-house shipping team
- Home-grownA proud record of developing our own talent, and keeping it
Specialist services
From yacht keels to washing machines.
Marine ballast
Lead and steel ballast for boats and yachts
Lead ingot, lead shot in sealed 20 kg bags, steel shot and steel slab, plus counterweights cast precisely to your drawings with optional PVC coating. Supplied to customers all over the world.
Request a ballast quoteElectrical waste
Approved treatment for large appliances
As an Approved Authorised Treatment Facility (AATF), we recycle large domestic appliances such as washing machines and cookers, and issue WEEE evidence notes for compliance schemes.
Talk to us about WEEEGood to know
Questions, answered.
Can’t see yours? Call the team on 01473 830373. They’ve heard it all before.
What do I need to bring to sell scrap metal?
Valid photo ID (a passport or driving licence) and proof of your address, such as a recent utility bill, plus your bank details for payment. The Scrap Metal Dealers Act 2013 requires us to check and record these for every sale.
Do you pay cash for scrap metal?
No. Paying cash for scrap metal has been illegal in England and Wales since 2012, so we pay by bank transfer, straight into your account.
How much is my scrap metal worth?
Scrap prices follow the world metal markets and change daily. What you’re paid depends on the grade and how clean your metal is. Call us on 01473 830373 or send a photo for today’s price.
Which metals do you buy?
All grades of ferrous and non-ferrous metal: copper, brass, aluminium, cable, lead, stainless steel, light iron, heavy steel, oversized and burning, and scrap cars. If you’re not sure, just ask.
Can you collect scrap from my site?
Yes. We collect across Ipswich, Suffolk, Essex and the wider East Anglia region (further if required), using HIAB crane lorries, flatbeds and curtain-siders with forklifts. For regular waste we’ll set you up with containers and a collection schedule.
What sizes of skip and container do you offer?
10-yard skips, plus 20, 30 and 40-yard roll-on roll-off (RoRo) containers, for one-off jobs or permanent use with regular exchanges.
Can I tip a van load of waste?
Yes. Our Man in a Van service at the Needham Market recycling facility takes commercial waste loads of half a tonne or more. There’s no need to book: you pay by weight and get a waste transfer note.
Where are you, and when are you open?
Our metal recycling yard is at Railway Sidings, Gipping Road, Great Blakenham, Ipswich IP6 0JB. Our waste recycling facility is on Ipswich Road, Needham Market. We’re open Monday to Friday, 7:30am to 5pm, and Saturday, 7:30am to 12pm.
Get in touch
Get a price, book a skip or ask us anything.
Tell us what you’ve got and where you are, and we’ll come back to you with a price or a plan. Or call now to talk to the team.
Call the yard01473 830373- Sales & scrap metal
- sales@sackers.co.uk
- Recycling & WEEE
- recycle@sackers.co.uk
- Skips & tipping
- skip@sackers.co.uk
Metal recycling yard
Railway Sidings, Gipping RoadGreat Blakenham, Ipswich IP6 0JB Directions to the metal recycling yard (opens Google Maps)
Waste recycling facility
Ipswich RoadNeedham Market, Suffolk Directions to the waste recycling facility (opens Google Maps)
Opening hours
| Monday–Friday | 7:30am–5:00pm |
|---|---|
| Saturday | 7:30am–12:00pm |
| Sunday | Closed |