Hello From Tucson

So I started dumpster diving to feed my hogs (11 at the time) about a year ago. Well it was nice to feed them for free minus the price of fuel. But I couldn't believe all the metal I came across! That got me into scrapping. Since the metal paid for my fuel now feeding my hogs didn't cost me anything but time.

Now days I am down to 4 hogs so i mainly go for scrap. Twice a week I dumpster dive for pig feed. Once a week we have a residential bulk trash pickup somewhere in town(location changes every week). Once a month(just before the 1st when people are moving) I hit apartment complexes.

I have been averaging one load to the scrap yard a week and making about $100 profit after subtracting for fuel costs. If you factor in what I save not buying pig feed my profit is closer to $300 a week. Not bad for an easy side gig! Plus I have a huge pile of circuit boards I will get around to selling one day.

My problem is figuring out how to turn this into a bigger business. I am thinking about going around to a bunch of automotive shops and offering some sort of profit split for their scrap metal. I have also noticed a lot of the car audio shops throw their wire in the trash. So maybe they will be open to me leaving some sort of bin in their shop so it can be recycled?

Anyway I have been a reader of this forum for a while now so I figured I should open an account so I can interact.

I'll try to steer clear of your lawn!

Well I have a local guy in my neighborhood that I like selling to because he never tries to screw me over and it saves fuel because I am way outside of town. Plus he buys stripped wire(from me at least)! But when I have a load of steel I will go to SA Recycling because it's the closest yard to me and my neighborhood guy doesn't have a drive through scale. Although I keep having bad experiences with them and should probably switch it up. Any recommendations?

Are there any local circuit board buyers worth selling to?

Yeah I kinda knew shipping my ewaste was going to be the way to go but I figured I would ask Hobo about local buyers since we live in the same town. It looks like we have some reputable buyers here on the forum so i'll definitely use them when it comes time to sell.