Advice on scrap yard deal. - Page 2

It would be better if everything coming in hadn't been exposed to the elements. You would be able to salvage a lot more for re-sale of good used parts. ( Better money in that. )

It just seems like it needs more time for things to develop. Not everyone got the memo and fewer still seem to care. The e-waste is a newer thing that's it's own specialty but they process it the same as any other scrap metal coming in the yard. There are a couple of rules starting to emerge. The first is that it has to be stored under cover. The second is that all circuit boards have to be removed before something goes into the shredder.

It's not without good reason.

As Alloy was saying .... the acid rain eats at the metals and carries them off into the soil below. You're losing PM's that could be recovered but more importantly, some of the metals being leached out are rank poison. It's stuff like lead in the solder and chromium found in the tiny three legged SMD transistors soldered to the board. There might be some mercury in the mix as well.

The other thing is that when a circuit board goes through the shredder it kicks up a lot of dust laden with heavy metals. It's not like you're gonna croak the first time you're exposed to it but it's really bad for the yard workers that are exposed to it for a number of years. It gets into your lungs and is absorbed through your skin.

It kinda sucks because they probably don't know. They aren't given the chance to make their own choice about whether or not they want to run the risk of working around that stuff or not.



Anyway .... it might be a good thing to see if you can figure out where the yard owner's head is at before making an offer. If he just had a visit from the EPA and now understands how much work (and money) it will take to break it all down and process it correctly ?

You might be able to get the pile for little or nothing.

I would randomly pick two or three PCs and crack them open at the scrap yard. You won't make any money on these PCs if the CPUs and RAM have been removed. Paying 10 cents per pound for shred is insane. I'd be surprised if any yard doesn't know the value of a PC they own. You don't stay around in business long without knowing your inventory. If the chips are included I'd pay about $1.50 to $2 per PC.

Well this yard doesn't know about ewaste. None of the yards buy them where I'm from. And if they do they pay regular shred prices for them. If I can get em for a good price. I'm getting em. Of course after taking another peek at them. Folks around here look at me crazy when I talk about ewaste.

I tried to offer 15 cents a pound for any computers that my yard pulled, and the guy said was like I'll have to pass I got more before. I'm like yea and you were paying 11cents a pound for shred, now its 4. I still see computers in the shred pile, I don't think the guy understood my angle.

And for the longest time the guy gave me the run around, saying he would have to contact his boss and make sure they could sell to me. It's like he didn't want to consider my offer. The whole thing was really goofey.