Scrap Yards E-Waste

I wanted to ask some of you guys a question about the scrap yards you deal with. All the scrap yards I come in contact with that purchase e-waste all do the same thing with it. Ship it to china for .40-.50 per lbs. Because of this, it is becoming increasingly difficult to make deals that are profitable on whole CPUs. Since the yards themselves aren't dismantling, only stacking and wrapping their cost of labor/handling is extremely low. They are capable of paying more for the material with little to no work involved. However, they are smart enough to price themselves competitively in the market so they don't lose out on profit.

The question I am asking is how some of you have consistent pick-ups from scrap yards for CPUs when they are perfectly capable of shipping it direct to china for more than you can pay them? I guess this might have something to do with the fact that I am on the coast and they have better access to exporters. Just wanted to see if anyone else has run into this dilemma.



example: 1 scrap yard I did a test load for was moving 40000 lbs of CPUs/Servers every 10 days. After dismantling, my margin was so small for a lot of work and they were still upset with their payment.

I am very well diversified. In my area, we must charge for collection of small (and sometimes) large amounts of e-waste due to the expense of doing business in and around Manhattan. So, I have fairly sizable accounts that provide me with weekly pick-ups. My trucks go out daily. However, trying to expand and buy large quantities of Towers to increase my operation has become difficult due to their competition.

It just pains me to see these scrap companies having access to extremely large amounts of e-waste on a daily basis and shipping it directly out of the country. Those 40k lbs of towers represents about 4-5 full time jobs that are being shipped else where. Know what I mean?

Simple answer there is no way to make money off the yards shipping over seas. Like Andrew said your best bet is computer stores. Keep all dual core and above machines that work and trade them in on there junk. Most computer guys pay between $35-65 for dual core machines depending on the specs. Triple and quad core may be even more but I doubt you will come across many at scrap value.

Originally Posted by technologyrecycling

It just pains me to see these scrap companies having access to extremely large amounts of e-waste on a daily basis and shipping it directly out of the country. Those 40k lbs of towers represents about 4-5 full time jobs that are being shipped else where. Know what I mean?

They are in business to make money not create jobs. Its sad but that's what every industry has come down to. Theres more money to be made when you outsource work to countries with lower labor rates.

Originally Posted by CarolinaEwaste

Simple answer there is no way to make money off the yards shipping over seas. Like Andrew said your best bet is computer stores. Keep all dual core and above machines that work and trade them in on there junk. Most computer guys pay between $35-65 for dual core machines depending on the specs. Triple and quad core may be even more but I doubt you will come across many at scrap value.
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I have a company that I already trade with. They refurbish computers all day long and send me the non-working/scrap computer parts..

Just trying to break the cycle of feast and famine. Some months I see a single pick up of 500-1000 towers... other months I am only processing 75-100 a week. Consistent flow like theirs is hard to come by...

Originally Posted by shendog

Sort of makes you wish you could take an add out on the front page of the paper that says: "Dont take your computer to the scrap yard! They will sell it to China along with all your personal information, and dump toxic parts into rivers!"

Well that's the other thing.. I have the DEC and DEP stopping by once a month to see "how things are going..." and to make sure that I am keeping proper records and everything is going where I am saying it is going.. while a quarter of a mile down the road scrap yard is taking in a lot more than I am and exporting it irresponsibly..

Do you mean a tower rather than a CPU? I am thinking so.

Sounds to me that these yards/businesses are taking advantage of a loophole in the system, since they dont have the ewaste certifications all they are doing is loading containers and shipping it out of the country. There basically making more money than a escrap certified facility staffed by workers that are paid fairly. Just another loophole in the system that allows companies to outsource jobs.

Just waiting for a guy to post a video on youtube of a truck running over monitors to shut down this industry. We are getting to the point where something is going to happen and every transaction will have to be monitored and recorded between buyers and sellers.