Abstract: Embodiments of the present invention provide apparatus for automatic valuation of articles. The apparatus may comprise an article receiving device arranged to receive an article therein; and an article assessment device arranged to determine the presence of a prescribed one or more materials in said article along with the quantity thereof, the article assessment device being arranged to determine a value of the one or more materials present in the article based on a stored amount of the value of a given quantity of each of said one or more materials, and the quantity of the one or more materials present in the article as determined by the article assessment device, and to output to the user the value of said article based on the value of the one or more materials and/or output to the user the value of the one or more materials.