In a residential building, a shopping centre, a hospital or a factory, a lift eventually reaches the end of its life: a full modernisation, replacement with a newer model, or a definitive stop after a major breakdown. And when the lift stops, one question comes up at once: what should be done with the scrap metal of a lift out of service? The answer starts with a simple observation: a lift is not waste, it is a concentrate of metals. Steel for the rails and the frame, stainless steel for the cabin and the doors, copper for the traction motor and the cables, aluminium for the thresholds and profiles, cast iron for the counterweight: every dismantled unit releases clean, recoverable metals. This guide explains what metals a lift contains, how its dismantling takes place safely, and how MOUMETAL organises sorting, on-site collection and traceability.
A first point of method: scrap from a lift is not treated like ordinary site scrap. The unit is installed in a shaft, in the heart of an occupied building, with heavy parts — cabin, counterweight, motor — suspended overhead. Dismantling therefore needs coordination between three parties: the building manager or the co-owners' association, the lift technician who cuts the power and secures the unit, and the recycler who dismantles, sorts and removes the metals. It is this complete chain — safe dismantling, metal sorting, on-site collection and traceability — that this guide details, from the first call to the departure of the truck.
What metals does a lift contain?
The cabin itself is the first stock. Its walls, doors and ceiling are most often made of stainless steel, mounted on a steel frame. The landing doors, on every floor, are also made of steel or stainless steel, with aluminium thresholds and steel mechanisms. Behind the decoration, the structure is therefore entirely metallic.
The mechanical heart of the unit is just as metallic. The traction motor holds copper in its windings and steel in its casing and shaft — the same type of motor we cover in our article on recovering used electric motors. The steel traction ropes, the cast-iron or steel sheave, the profiled steel guide rails, the counterweight — blocks of steel or cast iron stacked in a frame — complete the set. Finally, the control cabinet and the shaft cables contain copper: control and signalling cables, terminals and brass contacts. A lift out of service is therefore mostly steel, with copper, stainless steel, aluminium and cast iron — five families of metals to be sorted separately.
Dismantling a lift: steps and safety
Who dismantles a lift? The answer comes in two stages. First, the lift technician — the qualified specialist who maintains the unit — takes the lift out of service: cutting the power supply, blocking the cabin and the counterweight, locking out the installation. This step is essential: as long as the cabin and the counterweight are not blocked, no dismantling can begin. Only then comes the dismantling itself, carried out by teams used to heavy loads and working in a shaft.
Dismantling follows a precise order. It starts with the control cabinet and the electric cables, then the cabin: removal of the stainless-steel cladding, the cabin doors and the landing doors, dismantling of the frame. Then come the traction motor and the sheave, lowered with a hoist, followed by the traction ropes, the guide rails and the counterweight, dismantled block by block. For hydraulic lifts, one extra step is required: draining the hydraulic oil from the cylinder and the power unit before any cutting — used oil goes to a dedicated treatment route, never with the scrap.
Safety governs every step: working at height in the shaft, suspended loads, lifting tools, personal protective equipment. That is why dismantling a lift is never improvised and never done alone: it is prepared with the building manager, planned so as not to block the other lifts in the bank, and carried out with suitable lifting equipment. Our article on dismantling industrial machines details the same logic applied to factory equipment.
Escalators and lifting equipment: the same metals, different constraints
An escalator out of service raises the same questions as a lift, with different constraints. Its structure — the truss — is a steel frame several metres long, which is dismantled in sections so it can leave the building. The steps are aluminium, the balustrade stainless steel, the traction motor and the chains steel, the electric cables copper. In a shopping centre or a station, it is often the first piece of equipment replaced during a renovation: it must then be taken out piece by piece, without interrupting the activity of the site, and its metals sorted as the work goes on.
The same logic applies to other lifting equipment: goods lifts in restaurants and hotels, overhead cranes in workshops, lifting platforms in warehouses. All of them contain the same families of metals — structural steel, copper from motors and cables, stainless steel cladding, aluminium platforms — but each with its own constraints: an overhead crane is dismantled at height, a goods lift is taken out through the shaft, a platform needs its hydraulic fluids drained. None of this equipment ends up in an ordinary skip, and each one deserves an inventory before dismantling.
Sorting and recovering the metals
Once the unit is dismantled, sorting decides the value of the load. Steel — rails, frame, truss, counterweight — goes one way; stainless steel — cabin, doors, balustrades — another, because it is recovered separately from ordinary steel, as explained in our article on buying stainless steel in Morocco. Copper is recovered from the motor windings, the control cabinet cables and the shaft cables. Cables are stripped or shredded to separate the copper from its sheath, never by burning: Law 28-00 bans open-air burning, and burned copper loses its quality. Aluminium from the steps and thresholds, cast iron from the counterweights and sheaves, and brass from the contacts complete the sorting.
Sorting is preferably done on site, as dismantling proceeds: each family in its own container, labelled, weighed separately. It is the same rule as for all industrial scrap, detailed in our article on the scrap purchase process, step by step: a clean, homogeneous metal goes straight to remelting. Reusable parts — a landing door in good condition, a motor that still works — are set aside before sorting, because reuse is always better than recycling.
On-site collection and traceability with MOUMETAL
MOUMETAL works with co-owners' associations, building managers, hotels, shopping centres and industrial companies in Morocco for the dismantling and recovery of this equipment out of service. First contact by phone or WhatsApp: the manager describes the unit — type, number of floors served, condition, access — and sends photos if possible. A site visit then makes it possible to inventory the metals, agree the schedule with the lift technician and prepare the collection: containers per metal, a temporary storage area, a truck suited to long parts.
On site, our teams dismantle with the lift technician, sort by metal, weigh each load and document the flows. Collection is by truck, at times agreed so as not to disturb the building's occupants, and each load is traced to its recovery route. Buying copper in Morocco and scrap metal collection and removal are thus organised as a complete service, from the inventory to the departure of the truck. For a dismantling or an inventory in your building, contact us: +212 660 690 806 — contact@moumetal.com.
FAQ — Scrap metal from elevators, escalators and lifting equipment
What should be done with a lift out of service? Call the lift technician to cut the power and secure it, then a recycler such as MOUMETAL for dismantling, metal sorting and collection. The unit must never be dismantled without electrical lockout: it contains steel, copper, stainless steel, aluminium and cast iron, all recoverable.
Who dismantles a lift? Dismantling takes place in two stages: the qualified lift technician takes the unit out of service — power cut, blocking of the cabin and counterweight, lockout — then the dismantling teams remove the cabin, the motor, the cables, the rails and the counterweight.
How does dismantling a lift take place? After the power is cut and the installation locked out, the control cabinet and cables are removed, then the cabin and landing doors, the traction motor and sheave, the traction ropes, the guide rails and the counterweight, block by block. The metals are sorted as work proceeds, weighed and collected by truck.
What metals does a lift contain (copper, stainless steel, steel)? Steel for the frame, the guide rails and the counterweight; stainless steel for the cabin and the landing doors; copper for the traction motor, the control cabinet and the shaft cables; aluminium for the thresholds and profiles; cast iron for the counterweight and the sheaves; and brass for the contacts. Each family is sorted separately.
What should be done with an escalator out of service? Have it dismantled in sections by qualified teams, then sort its metals: steel truss, aluminium steps, stainless-steel balustrade, copper motor, steel chains. MOUMETAL organises the inventory, on-site sorting, weighing and collection by truck, without interrupting the activity of the site.
Have your lift out of service recovered by MOUMETAL
Lift, escalator, goods lift or overhead crane out of service: MOUMETAL dismantles, sorts and collects scrap from lifting equipment in Morocco, with full traceability. To go further, read our scrap metal purchase page and our article on buying copper in Morocco. Contact us: +212 660 690 806 — contact@moumetal.com.