Materials
Old X-ray film contains recoverable silver. Medical archives, dental offices, industrial radiography operations. If it's been sitting in storage past its retention period, it has value. We buy it, we pick it up, and we pay at collection.
The Material
Traditional X-ray film is coated with a silver halide emulsion. When the film is exposed and developed, silver particles are suspended in the gelatin emulsion layer. That silver is recoverable and has real commodity value. The older the film, the higher the silver content as a general rule, since manufacturers have progressively reduced emulsion thickness over the decades.
Wet-process silver-halide film carries significantly more silver than dry-process film. Most archival medical and dental X-rays from before the mid-2000s are wet-process. Industrial radiography film used in pipeline and weld inspection is also typically wet-process and often has higher silver content than medical film.
The value of a collection depends on film type, age, and quantity. A hospital clearing out 30 years of archived X-rays represents a meaningful silver recovery opportunity. A dental office with a filing cabinet of old films is still worth the conversation. We handle any quantity.
For medical facilities: we understand retention requirements and work around your compliance timeline. HIPAA-compliant destruction documentation is available on request. Films are transported and processed in a manner that ensures patient information is fully destroyed.
Pricing Factors
What We Accept
If it's silver-bearing X-ray film and it's past its useful life or retention period, we want to talk. Any format, any quantity, any origin.
Archived hospital, clinic, and imaging center X-rays. Full-size medical radiography film from any era. HIPAA destruction documentation provided on request.
Dental office archival film in all formats. Small periapical film, panoramic, and bitewing. Any quantity considered. Higher silver content per pound than most medical film.
Pipeline inspection, weld inspection, and aerospace NDT film. Often the highest silver content of any film category. Available in volume from active operations.
Non-destructive testing film from manufacturing quality control. Casting inspection, structural integrity testing, and process monitoring film.
Laboratory and research radiography film from universities, research institutions, and scientific operations. Often very high silver content.
Full archive clearouts from hospitals, imaging centers, and long-established practices. We handle the logistics. One pickup, one payment, done.
In The Field
X-ray film collections range from a single box to floor-to-ceiling archive rooms. We handle all of it.
The Supply Chain
For medical facilities: patient information on film is fully destroyed in the processing cycle. Documentation available on request for compliance purposes.
Why Liberty
X-ray film pickup involves more than just showing up with a truck. Documentation, compliance, and logistics matter.
We provide destruction documentation for medical facilities that need it for compliance purposes. Patient information is fully destroyed in processing.
One box or a full archive room. We size the pickup to the job. Large hospital collections get a dedicated trip. Smaller volumes are bundled efficiently.
Settled in full at time of collection. No waiting on silver recovery results for standard assessed loads. You hand it over, you get paid.
We load on site. Boxes, cabinets, loose film. Your staff doesn't lift a finger. We bring what we need to handle the collection cleanly.
Tell us what you have and roughly how much. We'll give you a number and schedule a pickup.