Non ferrous is the way to go. I've always delt with it. Only a few times have I hauled in just shred. I imagine it would be difficult to run an operation. Focused mainly on a commodity that was only as much as $.10/ pound in its hayday. I know not everybody can recycle a/Cs but the majority of weight in an a/c was worth $1/pound when it wasn't so bad a few months ago, and is now still $.80/pound. Then other components are a buck fifty or buck thirty or forty cents. I can't imagine going after a trailer of something only worth ten cents a pound. If it's that low to begin with there isn't much of a comfort margin. If non ferrous don't work. You could learn to fix those appliances and sell them for hundreds a piece, and do that on the side of your burger Flippin job.