Why are there so few escrap buying yards in my area?

A couple of days ago I asked people if they knew of any escrap buying yards in my area. Got no replies which I assume means there are few such yards here.

So this is a question to those who know a lot about scrapping business. Why is it that in such a large metro area (I live near Wash DC) with a lot of electronic and computer equipment being disposed of by the Feds, the local governments, local businesses and so on, there is such a shortage of scrap yards that buy escrap, at least from a "regular Joe from the street" like myself? Some sort of EPA regulations to blame? Taxes too high? Some other factors?

I am not planning to open a yard myself, I just want to understand the scrapping market a bit better.

Either the ones that are there do not understand the money can be made in it, or you just haven't located the ones who do ; )

That smells like opportunity, to me. Craigslist ad saying that you will buy ______ items, and then you can ship to EWasted, or whomever you choose.

The problem is your looking for a scrap yard that buys e-waste, you should be looking for an e-waste buyer. Most scrap yards buy scrap and ether don't have time for e-waste or they don't know how to make money from it.

Originally Posted by Wolfwerx

That smells like opportunity, to me. Craigslist ad saying that you will buy ______ items, and then you can ship to EWasted, or whomever you choose.

It has been working quite well so far for me!!

I am also curious about this. I spoke with an owner of a used computer shop here in town and He said that it was against Oklahoma regulations for them to throw any e-waste out, that it all has to be recycled, and that they are required to show proof. So who is he dumping it off on???

Originally Posted by 41haikuwarriors

It has been working quite well so far for me!!

I am also curious about this. I spoke with an owner of a used computer shop here in town and He said that it was against Oklahoma regulations for them to throw any e-waste out, that it all has to be recycled, and that they are required to show proof. So who is he dumping it off on???

probably a large company is taking it for free or maybe even charging him for proof of recycling.

Reasons for so few ewaste buyers:

Depending on local regulations, it can be a lot of money up front to get certifications and possible building modifications.

They don't know what to do with it after buying it

Just a general lack of knowledge of ewaste

Originally Posted by happyscraper

The problem is your looking for a scrap yard that buys e-waste, you should be looking for an e-waste buyer. Most scrap yards buy scrap and ether don't have time for e-waste or they don't know how to make money from it.

I am looking for a local buyer for stuff that does not make sense for me to ship out. I know what to do with motherboards, RAM and other higher-grade escrap, but I am looking for someone who would buy stuff like power supplies, floppy/CD drives, computer fans etc. Sure, I can maybe take apart the drives and ship out the boards but no such luck with the power supplies, fans and so on.

Originally Posted by MattInTheHat

probably a large company is taking it for free or maybe even charging him for proof of recycling.

Reasons for so few ewaste buyers:

Depending on local regulations, it can be a lot of money up front to get certifications and possible building modifications.

They don't know what to do with it after buying it

Just a general lack of knowledge of ewaste

So maybe most large organizations (both Govt and private) deal with a small number of large certified ewaste processors and, as you said, get charged for disposing of their equipment. And small-scale guys like me have to rely on a local scrap yard to process ewaste.

a lot of yards will take the fans if you break off most of the plastic

why not save it for a month and drive south a couple of hours to some ware in VA?

I'm one of the lucky ones. There are many e-waste buyers by me but thiere prices are low enough that I can set my prices to compete with them and still make a profit. I do the same as Mechanic, I brake down the power suplies, sell the boards for a little more than low grade. The fans go to my core buyer as electric motors, I can leave all the plastic on them. I brake down the cd drives, sell the boards, pull the motors and toss the plastic.

It depends on where on the east coast...I don't have issues here in NC. My yards here take power supplies, with or without wire, take my crappy brown boards, my motors, etc. Like Happy and others I send the rest out. Yard gets the metal, motors, and other stuff it isn't profitable for me to ship.

Doesn't surprise me with the DC area. If DC can find a way to screw it up, they will. Don't get me started on DC and the effed up way they do things, I could be here all night listing reasons why that place is so screwed up, and I don't even have to start with politicians or lawyers!

Sirscrapalot - If somebody thinks they're a hedgehog, presumably you just give 'em a mirror and a few pictures of hedgehogs and tell them to sort it out for themselves. - Douglas Adams

This might be a topic for a separate thread but I am wondering if we have a case of business consolidation in our area. That is, we might have a couple of big guys dealing with ewaste, and they service all these large private businesses and government agencies, charging them lots of money for disposing of their old hardware.

And then there are small guys like myself, and some average guys... I am curious what % of ewaste gets processed by each group, and what % goes to the landfill or as shred steel or as hazardous waste...