Lead Scrap (Soft Scrap Lead, Sheets, Plates & Cable)

ISRI RACKS, RADIO, RELAY, chemical sheet and secondary smelter feed under HS 7802.00 & Basel compliance

Lead scrap breaks down into distinct industrial categories defined by melting characteristics, recovery yields, and regulatory classification. Clean unalloyed soft lead scrap — comprising sheet lead, lead pipe, hospital radiation shielding, roof flashing, marine keel ballast, and chemical vessel linings (ASTM B29) — assays at ≥ 99.0% to 99.94% Pb. In the secondary rotary or reverberatory furnace, soft lead exhibits an exceptionally low melting point of 327.5°C (621.5°F) and delivers net metal recovery rates exceeding 95–98%, requiring minimal fluxing or dross skimming. Under ISRI specifications, RACKS covers clean soft lead free from foreign materials, drosses, battery plates, collapsible tubes, aluminum, zinc, and iron. Cable strippings (ISRI RELAY) provide pure lead sheathing stripped from decommissioned subsea and underground power cables, typically testing at ≥ 99.5% Pb with ultra-low antimony (Sb < 0.05%). By contrast, ISRI RADIO encompasses mixed hard and soft scrap, containing antimonial lead from industrial valves, type metal, and castings, traded on a certified assay recovery basis with structured penalty deductions for antimony, tin, and copper. ISRI ROPES (lead wheel weights) carries steel spring clips, yielding ≈ 80–85% recoverable metal after magnetic clip separation or sweat-melting.

A critical commercial and compliance boundary separates metallic lead scrap from spent battery waste. Solid clean scrap lead, sheet, pipe, and stripped cable sheathing are classified under HS 7802.00 and operate under the OECD / Basel Convention "Green List" of wastes (Annex IX, entry B1020). These non-hazardous metallic shipments require no multi-month Prior Informed Consent (PIC) notifications and can be exported directly from licensed scrap yards in the UK, Europe and Africa into industrial smelting clusters and Free Trade Zones (such as the Alexandria Public Free Zone in Egypt, Sohar Freezone in Oman, or European secondary smelters) with ordinary commercial invoices, packing lists, Certificate of Analysis (CoA), and radiation-free inspection certificates. In stark contrast, whole drained lead-acid batteries (RSLAB under HS 8549.11) and battery paste/plates are classified under Basel Annex VIII (entry A1160) as hazardous waste. Transboundary movements of RSLAB require formal bilateral state-to-state notification, written consent from exporting, transit, and importing national competent authorities, and strict facility licensing. CBIL enforces this regulatory gate mechanically: Green list non-battery scrap is mobilized on fast-turn containerized schedules, while battery scrap is contracted only when complete Basel consents are legally perfected.

Because elemental lead has an extraordinary specific gravity of 11.34 g/cm³, freight logistics demand rigorous structural handling. A standard 20ft dry container carries a payload rating of 21.5 to 26.5 MT. At this weight, 23 MT of solid lead scrap occupies merely ≈ 2.03 m³ — less than 6% of the container's interior volume. Concentrating this mass on an isolated section of the plywood floor can crack steel crossmembers, cause catastrophic floor failure, and breach road axle-weight regulations during inland transport. Every container load of sheet, pipe, or bundled lead scrap must be strapped to reinforced hardwood skid pallets with longitudinal timber dunnage laid across the floor corrugations to spread point loads evenly across the bottom side rails. Palletized stacks are banded with heavy-duty high-tensile steel strapping and secured with timber blocking and chocking to prevent cargo shifting during heavy sea motion. Shipments are surveyed at stuffing with pre-shipment radiation monitoring (≤ 0.20 µSv/hr background clearance), weighing on calibrated weighbridges, and XRF multi-point scanning.

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Excluded origins are not offered, including product re-exported, blended or re-processed through a third country. Every lot moves with a certificate of origin naming the producing plant, mine or grower country, and nothing is quoted before the seller and loading point are known.