Need some advice on making a deal

I appreciate you posting this, and it is timely in my case too. Sounds like we have the same general setup with the exception that our facility is county operated (vs city), but conceptually exactly the same. I too have dropped some monitors there (after scrapping guts) for free and been mesmerized by towers, etc. Our facility has an onsite manager, but the "big boss" with responsibility for big picture management of the site is one up the line, so that will likely be my first conversation. One of the folks who I talked with mentioned a "contract" with a company, so that may be an opportunity (find out contract term and prepare to bid). Since it is a municipal (county) operation, I am assuming they have to share that type of information on request. If I can't make any inroads with the supervisor, next stop is the county commission. In your case, it may be the mayor and/or city manager.

Good luck and let us know what you find out.

Originally Posted by MattyNoNeck

So I need some advice…

I went to the local town dump yesterday to drop off some hard plastic (Free for recycling!), mostly stuff from junk removals and a few printer shells. Now, this dump takes eWaste for free and they had a bunch of computers and such stacked up as well as a whole pallet of lead-acid batteries. My mouth began to water so I stopped in to the office and asked if they would sell some stuff I saw that I liked. Flat out, NO! They just don’t want to start dealing with that so they make a blanket rule for everyone that once it’s in there, it stays.
Now I know they probably sell the eWaste and get paid by the pound for it, and likely the batteries too. So how I do I convince them to let me buy the stuff? This is a town-run dump and the manager/boss/supervisor/head honcho/whatever already nixed me. Who’s next up the ladder? I know I could probably beat whatever they’re getting paid. I just need to catch the right ear. Thoughts?

With out knowing? Are you a company with all the licenses and workmans insurance?

Today to do business with any Government or City agency, you would have to be a registered business with workman's comp insurance and also liability. In addition even thou there are no government regulations regarding e- waste in force yet, government agency's are looking for R-2 at a minimum certified recyclers for there recycling. If there are none in your are,they also look for nonprofit organizations. Even if you support let's say the Boy Scouts with a percent of the profit might help.

I am a manager at a City Recycling Center.

First off, you need to be insured and licensed. Recycling Centers need to report where everything goes. If they send it off to someplace that is not licensed then they could get fined.

Secondly, there is the privacy issue.

Third is that they probably get money for the batteries and the computers. That is why they are seperate. I am sure they have a large amount of crts but probably rhe full gaylords are stored elsewhere because of universal waste regulations. I know ours has to be.

Last but not least, we view anybody that scraps as scavengers. They are looked down apon because they look to take revenue away from us. Took me a long time to tell the difference between the different types of junkers out there.

Somehow we need to get rid of that name. We are not scrapers but recyclers. If you think about it, what sounds more professional, a scrap metal yard or a metal recycling yard.

First impressions are everything. Look and act professional. Shake their hand. Have business cards. Tell them you are a recycler. And know the market. Also don't go right up and ask. Get into a conversation with them. Somehow break the mold and show them you are different!

One other thing I didn't mention above that pertains to many recycling centers. We remember a lot about what you bring, how you sort, etc. The town I work for has about 6500 people. I remember who we need to keep an extra eye on, who recycles, who picks, and which ones are excellent and know we don't have to worry about them.

Matty,

When I get a chance, I'll send you a long winded PM on this topic and include what Massachusetts does. The contracts put out by the state can be used by any Massachusetts town or non profit. I can give you the link to see what they are charging and read the contract. Have a story for you also.

Stop in when you are not there to dump product. Have a price list with your current prices. A business name helps you look a little more legit. With the fact in mind that people have a negative perception on recyclers / salvagers, name your business accordingly.

If all else fails, try to get the computers BEFORE they make it to the dump. Advertise in local community papers, craigslist, door to door advertisers. Spend the money to make the money.

Originally Posted by MattyNoNeck

Ya know, oddly enough, I don’t see that many CRTs there. Even when I drop off my bunch that I charge to remove, the PCs easily outnumber the CRTs. That always struck me as odd. Maybe because people replace computers more often than TVs?

And 1956, I'm just a guy looking to make some cash. I haven't moved that far up the ladder yet. What kind of licenses and insurance would I need?

In the meantime, I scored a deal last week with a computer store after he saw my CL ad. He came to me when other people wanted to CHARGE him to take PCs away! I'm working on more computer repair shops in the meantime. If I can get a few regular pickups, I won't even need to buy from the dump

Matty,

good luck with the computer stores. I was buying from Greenbush Computer Fare on Route 20 for a while. I think I gave him a little too much info and he figured out the game.

Originally Posted by mthomasdev

Matty,

When I get a chance, I'll send you a long winded PM on this topic and include what Massachusetts does. The contracts put out by the state can be used by any Massachusetts town or non profit. I can give you the link to see what they are charging and read the contract. Have a story for you also.

Matty,

I decided to put this up instead of PM so everyone can benefit form it.

NY has an E-waste recycling law that was signed around 2010. Most if not all of it will be in effect by 2015. Manufacturers are required to take back old electronics from individuals and small businesses. Disposal of CRTs in landfills will be banned by 2015. These are just a few of the points in the law. Here is the link:
E-waste Recycling - NYS Dept. of Environmental Conservation

The link below is a user guide to the Massachusetts OSD contract that contains (section 7) E-waste.
http://www.mass.gov/anf/docs/osd/ugu...82-6-23-14.pdf
The link below should take you to a page where you can download info on all vendors and prices for this contract:
https://www.commbuys.com/bso/externa...hType=contract

Originally Posted by bpatnoe

Somehow we need to get rid of that name. We are not scrapers but recyclers. If you think about it, what sounds more professional, a scrap metal yard or a metal recycling yard.

First impressions are everything. Look and act professional. Shake their hand. Have business cards. Tell them you are a recycler. And know the market. Also don't go right up and ask. Get into a conversation with them. Somehow break the mold and show them you are different!

One other thing I didn't mention above that pertains to many recycling centers. We remember a lot about what you bring, how you sort, etc. The town I work for has about 6500 people. I remember who we need to keep an extra eye on, who recycles, who picks, and which ones are excellent and know we don't have to worry about them.

You have this wrong, most of us on this forum are NOT recyclers, we are scrappers. we collect waste, break it down and sell to recyclers and/or the scrap yard. A scrap metal yard is not the recycler, they buy scrap metal and resell to the recycler. A recycler turns waste or discarded items into new items. Yes recycler does sound better but a chef sounds better than a cook and a cook sounds better than a hamburger flipper. It's all one big cycle that's why it's called recycling. Here's how it works and I'll use steel as an example but it works with anything. The scrapper goes out and collects the steel and sells it to the scrap yard they sell it to the mill that turns it into usable steel, they sell it to the manufacturer who makes new items with it. People look down on us but what would the world be like with out us. Everybody wants to recycle but they always look down on the first person in the cycle. It's something that we just have to deal with.