Has Anyone Recycled For Cash?

[phrog]

Since it was theirs...did they get a "trade in value"?

.

Actually, in many cases, yes they did.

[eccentrictinkerer]

Once or twice a year I take my scrap brass, copper and aluminum to the 'scrapper'.

I run a one-man 'handyman service' and do a lot of plumbing fixture 'R&R'.

I average $150 to $250 a trip. My tool money!

Around here you can't unload your truck unless you show a photo 'ID'.

http://www.kirschbaumkrupp.com/12-Copper.htm

[BigguyZ]

My brother and I rennovate houses. On our most recent project, I convinced my brother to save the scrap. The old conduit, the old wiring, the copper that was in there, galvanized, and some steel and aluminum as well. Also an old washer that was worthless. All in all, my brother got $200 for a realatively small truck load.

So when his house was severely damaged by the Tornado in late May, when we gutted the house we kept all of the metal. We had a ton. Blake had a stash of old window weights from multiple rennovations, as well as another 40 or more from his house. Plus the cast iron soil pipe, a ton of wiring, some worthless bike frames, piping from the house, radiator pipes (the ones in the walls, so no asbestos), gutters, an incredibly heavy Kohler cast iron kitchen sink, a TON. That was, until some worthless piece of crap went through his back yard and stole every bit of it. Even an iron stand that I actually wanted to keep, since we have it from the house we grew up. I'm shocked the grill wasn't taken. I'd bet there was over $600 worth of metal, based on sheer volume alone.

I really hate the "professional" scrappers, personally. I'm sure it's a matter of the minority giving the majority a bad name, but too many times you see stuff torn up on a curb b/c a scrapper smashed a TV only to get the metal, leaving shattered glass everywhere. Of they just take the metal for a washer, leaving the plastic basket behind... Thieves, most of them. Really gets me angy, when I think about it.

[iceman61]

being in the remodeling business I keep & then sell all collected metals. Last year I was installing 72 plus windows a week. If you break them down & remove all the non metal you get premium price. At that time it was 60 cents a pound. if you don't break them down they would pay what they called "breakage price" wich was 10 cents a pound. I was hauling off a 16ft trailer filled about 2 ft deep once a week and making around $500 per trailer load. I tend to stock pile smaller loads until I have enough to haul off. I wished I could find a local recycling place for all these glass windowpanes. I have stacks after stacks.

Sometimes I woulld find an empty dumpster, get in & slam the windows against the sides. everything that need to go would fall out after te second strike & then I would toss the empty frames on the trailer, until I had a close call and realized the risk wasn't worth getting cut & beeding out in a dumpster. LOL

[iceman61]

Around here they are starting to regulate payouts on copper. You have to show a drivers license and it takes one week for you to get a check. It seems to have cut down on copper theft. Aluminum is cash on the spot, for now.

[cabinetman]

I've recycled sawdust and wood chips. I had to bag the stuff, but the soft powdery sawdust got bagged and I sold it to automotive shops for "oil dry". They would come and get it.

For wood chips, like from the planer and jointer, I bagged up certain species for local stables. They wouldn't buy just anything. There are wood species that are toxic to hoofed animals. They too would come and get it (not the animals...they don't drive trucks ).

At least I get some money back from "unused wood".

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