Expanding into other recyclables worth money

Hello, just want to say very glad to of found this place.
I been scrapping metal for about 4 years now, I'm 25 and get most of my scrap while out working, doing lawn service.
I have also done very good dumpster diving but here recently that has gone for the worst. I been ran off one site by a shop manager, stopped by the po po twice within the last month. So my scrapping and extra income has really taken a hit.

I been thinking about other materials that can be found much easier than metal such as paper and cardboard. Anyone have luck with these here?



What about plastic bottles that say .05 cents Michigan/etc....Those are everywhere here in Kentucky. I wonder if I collected enough to fill up a box truck if I could take to Michigan and get .05 a pop? No one in Ky buys scrap plastic bottles, we do have paper and cardboard buyers.

I've thought about the whole bottle return thing too, but considering it would take me hours to get out of Texas to ANY state, that alone wouldn't cover my gas bill to even consider such a thing. There's a town about 2 hours away from my residence that does buy plastic, paper, cardboard, glass, etc but you would need literal tons of it to see any benjamins going into your wallet.

I've scrapped cardboard one time, someone dumped a bunch behind my lawn care shop so instead of tossing it into the dumpster I took it to the paper place to see how it works. Same as any scrap yard just back up and dump into a massive pile. That was about a year ago,,,cardboard was at $50ton and mixed paper at $45 ton. I know some grades of office paper can go for over 1k$ a ton.

$50 a ton is extremely low but when I would go out dumpster diving I'd see so much of it. Only thing I can see getting in the way of getting businesses to hold me their cardboard and paper is having some where to keep it. I'd have to make a big wood container for each site to put it so wind doesn't blow it away making a mess etc,,

in maine i save up my bottle's that my family drinks, and cash them in once a month. i usually get $30. But if you look all over the roads there is a BUNCH. i would start scrapping cardboard/plastic and wood pallets... but cant find a buyer

Hauling a box truck full of bottles to another state reminds me of that Seinfeld episode when Kramer and Newman tried to pull off the same thing - using a mail truck! HAHA! Anyone remember that?

Originally Posted by BigRyan

Hauling a box truck full of bottles to another state reminds me of that Seinfeld episode when Kramer and Newman tried to pull off the same thing - using a mail truck! HAHA! Anyone remember that?

Of course. One of the best episodes ever. It might have even been a two parter.

For me it's plastic. I get loads (for me anyway....HAHA) of it from computers, vacuums, small appliances. I have been trying to find a place local to me that will buy in SMALL qty loads from the public....no dice as of yet. I wish we had deposit on glass and plastic bottles in this state but we don't and again no one will buy SMALL qty loads from the general public.

If you have paper buyers in your area....trying mixing that with your lawn service. Maybe agree to free pick-up of all waste newsprint, magazines, computer paper, cardboard, etc...from your residental and commercial clients. Put a "green" enviro spin on it to seal some business.

How about composting the waste grass clippings and leaves from your lawn care business and reselling it as mulch/fertilizer for gardens? Again put some type of 100% organic enviro spin on it.....

Hey Victor too bad they don't have a deposit on glass bottles in your area. We never had it until our provincial government decided to launch a wine & liquor bottle return system in 2007.(I guess to many ending up in landfills). We get .10 or .20 cents per bottle returned depending on size. I'd like to find a place that will pay me for paper/cardboard.

Man, here in the tater state we only get .2 cents a pound for card board. Tried it once. Filled up my pickup, got $3.20. Never again lol. Didnt even pay my gas to git there.

My girl and I do metal, paper and cardboard. It takes a lot of paper or cardboard to make it worth doing. I do it because there are so many scrappers in my area now, some days its hard to find any metal at all. And work is in a slump at the moment. Gotta pay the bills somehow!

Catifsh bob where in ky are you from.Really cardboard you can make very little money because u need so much of it.I used to do it and would get $25-$40 a truck load heck 10 years ago now i dont mess with it.But if it got to slow i could i guess.I used to also take my loaded truck home and run water over the cardboard for awhile to get alot of extra weight lol.

Originally Posted by trashman

I do it because there are so many scrappers in my area now, some days its hard to find any metal at all. And work is in a slump at the moment. Gotta pay the bills somehow!

That is why I'm considering it. All my secret scrap metal spots are no longer secret. For the longest time I had three plumbing places that would give me their steel. They kept the copper and brass and left the iron pipes and water heaters behind the dumpster for me. Now who the heck knows how many times other scrappers stop by those same spots all day everyday.
The trash men here quit taking old tv and computer screens so that really hurts my copper pile.

catfish where u living at in ky.

Around Louisville

About a 15 minute drive from the place that buys cardboard! lol

Nearest metal yard is about 20 minutes.

kool i live in louisville myself.

currently cardboard is $145.00 per ton. my girl and i hunt behind stores for bales. it takes us about 3 to 5 minutes loading one that can weigh 300-1000 lbs. we have a low trailer and we come up on the bale with only one thought, " LETS GET IT!!! " we dont walk away empty handed.

Uh huh. And you do have permission to take those bales, of course.