Scrap yards do buy scrap brake pads.
Brake pads are made of steel and iron and so scrap yards will buy the scrap brake pads as steel or iron.
However if you only have a few scrap brake pads then it won't make you much more than 50 cents or so.
However if you have more than just a few scrap brake pads or other scrap metal that you can mix them with then you can get more money.
Scrap metal prices can and do change often and range from $50.00 per ton to $250.00 per ton.
Right now scrap metal is around $250.00 per ton and if you have 2,000 lbs of scrap iron or scrap tin then you can get around $250.00 per ton for that load depending on the price of scrap metal in your area.
If you only have a few scrap brake pads then you can save them for later until you have more scrap metal or mix them with other scrap metal if you have them.
I toss my old scrap brake pads in with other metal and then when I have other metal to sell I take them in for scrap.
It's money later and you can never have too much money.