I'm a volunteer at the Gunn High School machine shop . I took three barrels of aluminum chips and solid scrap to Sims On Monterrey Rd. As it was my first time there, I went on line to check them out. A short time later I got a phone call from the office asking if I had any questions. I clarified which gate to use etc. When I got there it was very clean and clearly marked. Jesus met me and helped to unload my van. After some confusing on my part as to having chips mixed with solid metal, Jesus helped me sort out some of the solid aluminum. Next time I'll know. Jesus gets five stars from me.. He made the whole operation easy. The cashier lady was also very helpful in explaining the procedure for payment. read more

"If you want grown-ups to recycle, just tell their kids the importance of recycling, and they'll be all over it."--Bill Nye Brought in a small bag of cans that we found whilst cleaning up our storage space at werk and were told they evidently don't take aluminum recycling anymore. Seriously. What the actual fuck? Then why is there a giant sign that says "ALUMINUM"* above the entrance? Why bother even having a recycling business when you don't accept the only metal, aside from copper, that's (monetarily) worth recycling??? Speechless we left the bag and asked them to give it to the first homeless person that darkened their door. It was probably less than $10 worth anyways fwiw... *sorry no pic my bad. #partyfoul read more

First time here today. All the staff were super helpful and friendly. Convenient location and plenty of parking.

Great place to get paid for junk that would otherwise sit and rust. Some tips for first timers: Entrance is at Gate 1. Pull in and you'll see some parking spots to your left. If you only have a few items then you'll unload onto metal carts that they provide and wheel it into the warehouse to weigh. Make sure you bring a valid ID with you. If you get confused, look for people wearing hard hats and ask questions. If you have a truck bed full of scrap metal then you're going to pull onto the scales. They are right next to the warehouses on your left. If a truck is on the scale, then wait until they're done weighing. The workers will tell you what to do from there. Acceptable items: Non-ferrous metals (Copper, aluminum, stainless steel, brass, and other non-magnetic metals). Ferrous: All other steel that is magnetic. Tip: Make sure there are no plastic/rubber/fabric attached to your metal. They wont take your stainless steel refrigerator but they'll take whatever stainless part you remove from it. No gas canisters, propane tanks, or anything that holds fluids (oil, hydraulic) Car body panels (doors, hoods, trunks, frames, shocks, etc. not accepted). insulated copper wire, alternators, and car batteries are accepted. There's a bunch of other things that I cant remember. This is not a regular recycling center. Dont come in with your grocery bag full of beer bottles, pepsi cans, and 2 liter plastic bottles and expect them to take it. These guys shred dumpster sized piles of scrap metal daily. No one gives a damn about your 12 crushed soda cans or your "CRV 5 cent" bottles. read more

The process is smooth on a Saturday morning. The first time being there, it is a little tricky to find where to enter. Google Map would navigate to the office parking lot. The actual entrance is Gate 1, and exit is Gate 2. read more

Great place to shop for use metal if you are a DIY or trying to get yourself in learning welding. Prices here is excellent, great customer service but they closed during the Pandemic. Wish they still sell to the public. I miss buying from this place. read more

Like most people, I was faced with the burden of how to dispose of a large item. Today it's a 50-gallon water heater. It's not something you can just leave outside for the garbage guy to pick up. I thought I would have to haul this water coffin to the dumps and pay like a $50 fee. Here comes Sims Metal--a place where they take your crap and even pay you for it! We were surrounded by industrial trucks and contractors who had trailers of scrap. I had to run inside and try to find someone to help me since it was my first time here. The place isn't labeled with where you go to dump a water heater so I had to find someone to direct me around. For something like this, you basically have to wait in a car line to get weighed in. The cashier then asks if you'd like to get paid. Paid? For taking my trash? Hmm... Then I thought: How much will I get? I go and find out: About $4, but the process isn't even worth my time. I basically wanna just flip the tailgate down, hit reverse, slam on the brake and GTFO. Keep your $4. You're doing ME a favor. I think this place could get a process audit. They should have lanes labeled so newbies such as myself know where to go. They should also have an express lane for people who aren't looking to get paid. Tip: You need a hardhat to go back in the dumping area. Who knew? No one mentioned this to us and when we got out of the truck, a guy yelled at us for not having one. I guess the hard hat is supposed to protect us in case the giant claw dropped a car door on our head or something. Thinking back on a Roadrunner cartoon, it's like Wile E Coyote holding up an umbrella when the Roadrunner dropped a boulder on his head. You think it'll do us any good? read more

Excellent center for disposing items. Friendly staff. A bit confusing so this will help. I had a small refrigerator in the back of a station wagon. You drive in and they weigh your car. Provide ID etc. Drive ahead and unload. Then drive forward and have the car weighed again. You get the weight difference and receipt which you take to their ATM like machine and get cash. Paid $20. Then got in line to drop off cans and plastic bottles for weigh in. About $1.5 a pound. Loud place. They provide ear plugs but I would recommend bringing your own. read more

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Just finished up dumping some scrap metal and I must say, these were some of the nicest, most helpful people I've ever encountered. Aside from the slightly rude tone from the desk lady - maybe she had a bad day-, everyone I talked with were polite and helpful enough to work in a 5 star hotel as a concierge. Metal prices seemed fine. the 3 day wait on payment for non steel is a pain, but understandable considering the theft that goes on. read more

So every time I buy soda at the store, I get sorta pissed about that extra CRV thingy they add. I am wholeheartedly behind the idea. Give people money and they will pick up cans on the side of the road. Good for the bottle, good for the can. Anywhooo...I started saving my own cans. In my garage. To the chagrin of my wife who smirked and treated me like a homeless guy with a huge shopping cart. Paying her no mind, I ended up filling two trashbags just as a "test". Then I wondered where to go. That portable place by the WalMart? Way too crowded and slow. That other portable place over by Quicksilver? Same deal. Lines five and ten deep and slow guys working there. I suppose in the can recycling world, speed is not really a necessity. The Pennysaver always has these coupons that say "We pay $2 per pound" or something, so now I needed to not only get rid of the two bags in my trunk, but I needed to get a good price. What had I gotten myself into? I drove up Monterey Hwy, coincidentally (not ironically, you heathens) behind a blue pickup truck filled to the rafters with cans and such. I was amazed at the huge operation they had going there. Though I'm still a bit nervous because I don't know what I'm supposed to do. Luckily, these guys have signs all over the place. "Loud" and "Cans Here" and "Line up over there" and such. It made it basically idiot-proof. The line had four people. They had all kinds of stuff and looked at me askew at my tiny haul of two bags. Believe me, there are people there with thousands of cans. Again, I was just sort of doing this as a test. If I ended up with $2.50, maybe I don't do it again. I told the guy to be gentle because it was my first time. I pour the cans into this huge conveyor belt thing, throw my few plastic bottles into a different container, the guy pushes some buttons and hands me a receipt. Easy as pie. I believe the going rate was $1.54 per pound, but somehow the guy may have pretended like I had a coupon and given me the $2 price. My huge windfall from two kitchen bags of uncrushed cans? $9.90. Take that Recession! You take the receipt to a woman behind a window. She hands you a different receipt which you scan at an ATM and walk away with cash. A few cons: --It's loud (but they give you earplugs) --When I turned around after my turn, there were maybe 15 people in line. You'll want to have enough to make it worth your time. A few more pros: --easy for first timers --they provide cans and carts if you need them --they appear to recycle EVERYTHING. Trucks came in with pipe and plastic stuff and kitchen appliances. Not sure how that works. --open Saturday. --How can I say this politely? English is the first language of a substantial number of the workers, I think. I'm just saying. Wow, does anyone need to write this much about a place to take cans? read more

I support this company and location as if you are a single worker who does go dump everything in the landfills, they used to bill you for entry or weight and now many just has a high minimum fee plus they refuse to take any recycling all around in the bay areas. The main reason is because that China is no longer taking in our recycling so when we haven't yet figure out where we can send them to, they became just like garbage and many of the landfills would take them as it which means we pay for them to be dumped instead of getting pay for it like the old days. I vote for places like SIMS to stay 100%. read more

I'm giving Sims Metal five stars because they never cease to amaze me. About a year ago, we had to replace our water heater because it started leaking and we had to dispose of it somewhere. Where does one bring a broken water heater? I always thought your only option was the dump. Someone told us to try Sims Metal. We called them and they told us to bring it in. Score! They recycle it and we don't have to pay a disposal fee. Fast forward one year...we have a new charcoal ceramic Big Green Egg grill, but we have to dispose of our faithful (but old and really too embarrassing to give to someone else) gas grill. I thought "why not call Sims Metal to see if they will take it". And they did! Holy cannoli - they took it and we both parties were happy at the end of the transaction. Someday that metal and wood will be in something I may buy. And it won't be stuffed underground in some landfill where it might take 10,000 years to decompose. Victory! From reading the other reviews, it sounds like they take sinks too (they may be getting our sinks in the future). Think before you dump your stuff on the side of the road people (you know who you are) or haul it off to the landfill. Sims Metal may be the answer to your junk's next home. There are other places people. Don't be lazy about getting rid of your stuff. Ok, I'm getting preachy. read more

Heal the world, make it a better place for you and for me and the entire human race... This place takes everything AND your kitchen sink! They take just about everything you can think of, from computer monitors to car parts- including the engine! I usually recycle the usual things such as water bottles and soda cans, but have also brought scrap aluminum and copper from my parents house re-model. So clean out your garage, load your junk in the truck and head out here instead of the dump, chances are you will save the planet and a little bit of cash in your pocket as a reward. NOTE: California law now requires Sims to require a 3 day waiting period for payment on certain scrap metals, so you may have to back and collect your bounty for those, but regular recycling is paid in cash the same day. read more

If you have scrap metal appliance, bring it to Sims Metal, it pays you a few bucks for the appliance rather than charge you an arm and a leg, for a newbie, go to gate #1 wait inline, stop at the weight station, get the hard hat and paper work with the ID, then wait inline to approach the next stop sign, workers direct you to backup your truck to the dump site and unload the scrap metal appliance, then make a u-turn wait inline to sign 2 papers and get the payment ticket and return the hard hat, on the way out stop at the parking lot on your right side, walk to the cashier booth, pass the human cashier window and go to the last window with an ATM machine, scan the code and get the cash. read more

I would definitely come back here in the future. When I drove into the lot, it wasn't difficult finding a spot to park, but I had to be careful because there were trucks, carts, containers, and signs scattered all around the lot. There were plenty of available spots around (probably because it was a Thursday afternoon, so I guess Saturdays would be the most busy). Up until my visit here, my knowledge of recycling centers was based off of my friends' experiences, but when I asked an employee about what to do exactly, he kindly told me how it worked and gave me directions around the place. I unloaded my cans, bottles, and glass in separate containers to carry to the weighing machine. The organizing process was exhausting! My best, time-saving advice for you: organize your stuff before hand! (i.e. label bags as "cans" or "#1 plastic bottles") By the way, they don't pay for tin cans nor do they pay for #2 plastic (milk jug plastic). After waiting in line to recycle, the employee asked me to unload my cans into a weighing container. After weighing everything, they scan your driver license and print out a receipt for you to sign and bring to the cashier office. They then give you a card to bring to an ATM about 2 feet away behind a wall, after inserting the ATM card, it cashes you out and you're done! Recycling can be a long and time consuming process, so make sure you bring as many recyclables as you can so that you make your visit worth it. Rates: (subject to change) Aluminum Cans: $1.57/pound #1 Plastic: $0.96/pound Glass: $0.076/pound read more

I'm clearing an abandoned property at the end of the street that was used as a construction dumping zone. I filled up my pickup with scrap iron, rusted buckets of nails a home-made band saw and a defunct cement mixer, about half the truck was loaded. At 11AM on a Thursday, there was only one other person in line. They weigh the vehicle in, and out, subtracting the load. I unloaded the truck myself in two places, one for lighter, and one for heavier steel. You get a receipt, park in the lot and scan the receipt in the office with an ATM, which spits out cash. $54 richer and I was there maybe 30 minutes. Plus while you are there, the CRAZIEST machines are working around you. Entertainment in itself. You are given a pink hardhat to wear while inside. If you are a germophobe, bring antiseptic wipes. read more

This is a review for the SIMS store at Gate 6 where they sell new and scrap metal. I was looking for an inexpensive source of steel and aluminum for my TechShop projects and was thrilled to discover this place. I originally thought they were just scrap metal buyers, but when I found the retail warehouse at Gate Six off Monterey Road it has become my favorite over Gorilla (Hayward) or Alan (Redwood City) in terms of pricing (not selection!). If you are just learning to work with metal then this is the place to be! read more

Called in to find out if they take rims, they do, I talked to Larry who gave me prices over the phone so I compare to other places, this place gave me top dollar compared to everyone else, the staff was also really helpful and ANTHONY did most of the work for me, I'll be back. read more

My washing machine broke down after 10 years and I was referred to Sims Metal for a free drop off. When I got to the place, there was a long line of vehicles and after waiting 5 - 10 minutes, I was told that I could park and just drop it off. They helped me unload the washing machine and took it away. I also brought a couple of bags of plastic and glass. It was kinda confusing where to go, so I had to ask around but the people were helpful and pretty friendly. It was much better than waiting forever in line at the facility near Walmart. I was even given the extra coupon price, which was an added bonus. I will definitely be back to recycle and drop off any future items. read more

I give them cans and bottles and they give me cash at a good rate. It's a fair trade that makes standing in line well justified. Especially if you're like me, and dig through other people's garbage to find said cans and bottles. Now only if I can justify my behavior to my wife... read more

Beware they no longer recycle cans, plastics, and glass bottles. this was my go-to place for recycling crv, but I went today and the guy there stopped me and said that they no longer recycle crv since July 1st. read more

I recently started recycling cans, glass bottles, and plastic bottles. I read some of the reviews and decided to try Sims Metal. I have to say that everyone was very nice and helpful, Sims really made my first experience with recycling nice and easy. I am for sure going to continue to go there in the future. read more

We came in early before 9 am. 1. Its a clean facility with a lot of barrels for your recyclables. They have garbage receptacles all over the place 2. They are organized inside, with clear signs 3. Getting our cash was easy- you just scan the receipt from the cashier to the ATM-like machine next to the cashier's area. 4. They have snacks in the cashier's area 5. They have sanitizer in front of the area where you pull your recycle into some cons: THEY ONLY TAKE CRV CANS/BOTTLES/GLASS BOTTLES 1. They do not take other plastic that can be recycled. I thought they would since they are such a large facility. In Pittsburg, CA, a smaller facility takes them. 2. The person that helped us was OK but he kept pushing us to just leave our tin cans (vienna sausage cans and other cans that are like that) there with him because its not a lot- the barrel was a quarter way full. For 2 1/2 barrels of crv bottles and 3/4 barrel full of glass bottles we got a little more than 12 dollars* read more

This is a cool place if you get to go in the back. The service here was poor, my coworker and I had a couple people who mean mugged us and answered questions with little interest, but there was one nice guy lol. Anyhow, they pay quite low for scrapping nice solid metals. Nothing really attractive about going here. Still, you can get paid to throw away junk! read more

This place is terriable they say they open at 8 but they have a meeting that seems to be daily from 8 to 8;30 so why the fuck do they not just open tell 8:30 false advertisement if u ask me not to mention u can almost bet u will get a nail in ur tire read more

Great place to dispose old sinks, appliances and scrap metals for FREE. They'll even pay you for the junk! They also recycle cans, bottles and plastics. read more