Creating a Home E-Waste Drop Off Site - Your thoughts?

Hi All, I've spent the past 2 days reading every post I could on here, tried several hours to search for the topic (searched drop off site, home drop off, e-waste drop etc) that I'm about to post about but haven't found anything of the nature so maybe it will spark an idea in some of you, and the rest can tell me why its a terrible idea!

Alright so what I'm thinking is parking a trailer in front of my house on the street and having a sign that says something like "Electronics Recycling" on it.

Reasons I think it might be a good idea:

If I put a classified ad up that says I will pick up your unwanted electronics waste, I don't see it being time effective to drive to the houses to pick up one computer tower worth maybe $12.

My house is on a fairly busy street, but not so busy that you can't park behind the trailer and safely unload your e-waste.

Our dump has an electronics recycling site but its on the other end of town, so I see people embracing a closer drop off site that is available at all times.

I can unload any valuable items right to my house when I see them and leave a few computer shells or whatever on the trailer so people can see its ok to drop off items.

I have a DVR set up in my window taping anything going on in the street in case of shenanigans. (I know it wont stop it but its better than nothing).

I would list all the acceptable things you can drop off on the classified ads and any other advertising I use. (no guarantee they follow the guidelines but it helps)

Reasons I think it may be a bad idea:

Since it will be mostly unmanned, people may dump unwanted items such as 10 tube TV's at once or empty computer shells or random trash, I suppose I would just have to deal with that and shut it down if it became rampant.

Trailer may be vandalized, more than likely inadvertently (such as just throwing a computer/TV in and damaging the floor/railing).

City may not like having this on the street, in which case I could move it into my yard or driveway, but I think it will get more notice and be more convenient for drop off on the street, also the people would feel more comfortable staying on the street I believe.


Sorry for the huge post, just a lot of information to get across. A few other things regarding my situation that might help you get the picture, I live in the midwest, in a town with less than 80,000 population, it's a pretty friendly population but there are getting to be more and more bad apples moving to town lately. Go ahead and bring me to reality on this one, dont hold anything back guys.

I think there might some kind of enviromental requirment you might need to obtain through the epa or your state ti have something like this but I am not completely sure. Also you may want to think about any kind of insurance liability you may have such as someone falling out of the trailer or someone hurting themselves putting items in or even items in the truck possibly falling out ir falling one someone. Again not sure but just some thoughts.

Does your city have a zoning code? You might be able to slip under the radar if your recycling activities happen in your garage or backyard, but to put a trailer on the street, or even in plain sight in your driveway, seems to me to be inviting a visit from the code enforcement officer telling you that you can't carry on commercial activity in a residential zone. At least I know that's what would happen here...

Your getting in WAY over your head!
Things to consider
1- Local regulations for Ewaste?
2-Local regulations for having a trailer in your front yard?
3-I just think it is trashy and i think alot of people will be skeptical.

I wouldnt do it personally. Either take the next step and become and buisness or dont do it.

I think you have a great idea Jimmy! But I also agree with Resouceful. Do it right, keep the code/epa folks off your back. Don't give them an excuse to shut you down or impose hefty fines that you could be utilizing towards things like advertising, storage space and purchasing goods. Once you gain a bad reputation with your local officials such as code enforcent and permits, they will never forget it. They will hammer you for the most minor of offenses as to where it could have been resolved with a simple "you might want to clean this up a little". You get more bees with honey. Good luck brother!

We got shut down for awhile due to an expired license. Now we have an EPA number and had to resign a no land fill policy. The trailer thing could work but get a license and an EPA number. We are in KY and sure things state to state differ but do your homework. Call your local city hall or go to the .gov site for your city and check the laws and regs. Also make sure when you run your ads dont mention names like office depot or staples they get mad lol. My ads read similer to this........Why pay for electronics desposal/recycling. We have free drop off and pay you accordingly. and so on. Hope this helps you or anyone else.

Originally Posted by skylinejack

Trashy? How? The guy's trying to make an honest living. He's not stealing, killing, robbing, or slinging drugs. The city does just what he has proposed on a yearly basis here. Huge success. No one's ever accused them of being trashy. This man has a great idea and should be encouraged to follow it through.

It's trashy because it is hazardous! He needs to keep it low-key or jump in and pay high prices for permits like some of us do. If he had a trailer and someone throws a tv in it and it breaks- now we have leaded glass everywhere. It's just not safe.

Originally Posted by jghilino

If you think you are doing something wrong and have to ask 50 questions about it to try to make your self fell better

I'm not trying to make myself feel better as I am looking to give my self the best chance to succeed rather than trial and error and failure...

Thanks everyone for all of the constructive input, in one post I was asked to do an introduction so you would know more about me.

I run a computer repair business and also repair broken iphone, ipad and android phone screens. I have a double car garage that I used for tearing down and storing e-waste as well as plenty of space inside the house.

I have been parting out computers for 15 years but not until about a year ago did I realize the obsolete junk could be sold as scrap. To think of all the wasted scrap, seems so foolish now. I mostly sell my scrap on ebay as there is not a local place that takes more than a few types of metals, after reading countless threads on this site I now see there are also private people you can sell to without getting hosed with ebay fees which is great.

I have an employee that I am always looking for busy work for them to do when there is not a phone or pc in the shop to repair, i I figured this would be great if we always have a steady stream of e-waste coming in.

Not sure what else you'd want me to say about myself.

Originally Posted by olddude

every one missed the obvious unintended consequence. you will need two dumpsters one for the ewaste and one for you to put all the trash and garbage to days care not society will put in dumpster #1.

I tried it 2 years ago, basically I spent $80 a month for 3 months to pay for the neighbor hood trash dumping.

I need to check into this before implementing the trailer idea but I've heard Goodwill will take CRT monitors (they are 3 blocks from my house) and I'm quite sure I can take take computer tower cases and TV's to our local dump once I have enough for a trailer full. What am I missing that I might need an e-waste dumpster for?

Originally Posted by olddude

..........ok...........

So are you saying its impractical for me to dispose of my own ewaste?