Freon Recovery at Scrap Yards. Do they actually recover it?

A lot of people here would tell you to get certified to handle the freon and buy the equipment and tanks etc., but I'm not going to do that because I know it's generally not worth going to the time and expense to do that for your average--or even above average scrapper. That said, you have a place to get rid of them that does in fact give you money for them, even if it's not quite as much as you would get breaking them down illegally yourself. Operative word: illegally. And what they're doing is illegal as well, but by doing what you're doing - doing it the ethical way - ensures that your hands are clean even if it does feel pointless and like your missing out on some extra money.



It's the easiest thing in the world to rationalize bad behavior to bring in more money. Soul-less corporations do it all day every day, and twice on Monday. And whether global warming is real or not doesn't make what you're proposing any less illegal.

Fact of the matter is: you're already missing out on lots of money. It almost boggles the mind how much money your average street scrapper passes up in potential profit. But what are you going to become an expert at everything? That's why you have people that specialize and whole branches off the main scrap metal industry have sprung up for each of these specialty niches.

If you want to specialize in one kind of scrap go ahead, but I've never understood why so many "street guys" want to spend countless hours breaking stuff down in the scrap game. Sledge a motor off something if it takes a couple extra minutes sure, or cut the copper wires, etc. but don't you know as scrappers we're only keeping something like 20% of scrap metal that is thrown out every year out of the landfills? Why would you spend extra time that could be spent finding more stuff and making more contacts just to scrap out a fridge and make a whole 4 extra dollars and break the law in the process.