money EVERYWHERE!

Well today, I decided to help out a friend at a recycling plant at a landfill about 20 minutes from my house.

Now, we were sorting everything from wood, plastic, concrete blocks, rubber, and drywall (didn't know there was a buyer for that stuff lol)

So anyways, when we took a break, I was walking around, and I saw a dumpster full of metal...the container had to been holding close to $6 to $7,000 worth of metal.

Then, I saw their copper area...I of course was like a kid at Christmas.

Sad thing was, I couldn't take anything...he knows what I do with my recycling company, so him and I got to talking, and he told me that the landfill makes between $5 to $6 Million per year just on scrap metal and copper, and then different amounts for the other stuff we were selling.

He said, that the metal recycling is what pays for a bulk of the operations at their landfill/recycling plant.

Even though I didn't get to cash in big, it was still nice to see how a big company recycles a variety of things.

George, Think of all the capped landfills in the USA. Now think of all the materials that they hold in them. To bad there is no way to uncap them and recycle the material hidden underneath the inches of rubber and feet upon feet of fill dirt without releasing toxins and massive amounts of methane.

Did they sort all recyclables including different grades of plastic, cardboard, paper, and wood?

George,

Sounds like you have an in for some info to post in the new non-metal scrap section. With the amount of drywall scrap I see dumped around here, it would nice to be able to make a buck off of it.

I wanted to recycle some drywall here as a edging for the lawns (dig a groove & fill it with white drywall)
but I couldn't figure a way of getting the paper off it.

I'd used old white brick mortar before & it looked real nice.

Here in NZ we call drywall 'Gib board', its a brand name.

What do they do with the recycled drywall.

^^ Mate, I think you will find it's "GYP - Board" the GYP is short for Gyprock (the brand name) as it is made from Gypsum...

Quote:

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Originally Posted by PistoneScrapProcessing

George, Think of all the capped landfills in the USA. Now think of all the materials that they hold in them. To bad there is no way to uncap them and recycle the material hidden underneath the inches of rubber and feet upon feet of fill dirt without releasing toxins and massive amounts of methane.

Did they sort all recyclables including different grades of plastic, cardboard, paper, and wood?

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The stuff we were doing, never entered the actual landful. Not sure how it was brought there, but it was in a huge pile (mountain like), and a crane would lift it onto a conveyor belt, and it would come through the shop, and then you took out the wood, cardboard, plastic, concrete/cender blocks, drywall, and metal, and the rest which would be pure junk/garbage would go to the landfill.

I do agree, if there was a way to untap it all, we could probably be talking about a few hundred million, with all the landfills in the world.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Midnight

George,

Sounds like you have an in for some info to post in the new non-metal scrap section. With the amount of drywall scrap I see dumped around here, it would nice to be able to make a buck off of it.

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Well, all the stuff we were recycling, I know for sure is a buyer for it all, but never heard of a buyer for the drywall. My friend doesn't even know what the landfill does with it, but he said, he does know that it doesn't end up in the garbage.

And yes, I agree, if I knew of a local buyer for drwall, I would have a GREAT year!

Quote:

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Originally Posted by eesakiwi

I wanted to recycle some drywall here as a edging for the lawns (dig a groove & fill it with white drywall)
but I couldn't figure a way of getting the paper off it.

I'd used old white brick mortar before & it looked real nice.

Here in NZ we call drywall 'Gib board', its a brand name.

What do they do with the recycled drywall.

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The paper just peeled off for us..a razor blade might help too.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Torker Man

^^ Mate, I think you will find it's "GYP - Board" the GYP is short for Gyprock (the brand name) as it is made from Gypsum...

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Quote:

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Originally Posted by GeorgeB

The stuff we were doing, never entered the actual landful. Not sure how it was brought there, but it was in a huge pile (mountain like), and a crane would lift it onto a conveyor belt, and it would come through the shop, and then you took out the wood, cardboard, plastic, concrete/cender blocks, drywall, and metal, and the rest which would be pure junk/garbage would go to the landfill.

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That's called C&D. I assume it was a Waste Management facility? They dump those big roll-offs you see at demolition, remodel, and house builder's sites and sort out of the recycleables, mainly cardboard, metal, wood, etc. Kinda the new fad in the waste management industry.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Midnight

George,

Sounds like you have an in for some info to post in the new non-metal scrap section. With the amount of drywall scrap I see dumped around here, it would nice to be able to make a buck off of it.

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I don't know that there is much of a market for drywall waste. I have always just seen it ground up with brick and block waste to be used as landfill cap and liner. That doesn't mean things have changed, gypsum has many uses, but it's also common as...well.. Dirt.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by cdiaz3827

That's called C&D. I assume it was a Waste Management facility? They dump those big roll-offs you see at demolition, remodel, and house builder's sites and sort out of the recycleables, mainly cardboard, metal, wood, etc. Kinda the new fad in the waste management industry.

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It has a lot to do with LEED, and jobsite recycling for environmental purposes too. We actually pay extra to the waste companies to get little certified reports on the weights and classifications of what was diverted and what ended up in the landfill. Federal gov't requires it on most contracts.

I use broken drywall scraps in my garden, of all things. It works as a weed barrier until it breaks down, and then just amends the soil after that. I just lay it down as is.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Jillyenator

I use broken drywall scraps in my garden, of all things. It works as a weed barrier until it breaks down, and then just amends the soil after that. I just lay it down as is.

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The agricultural industry is one of the main end-users of recycled gypsum. Glad to see that you're searching deep into some of the old postings Jilly! There certainly is some good reading in the older posts.

Thanks, DWJ. There is so much good information in the forum posts. So much of it is buried.

I wish the topical posts could be combined, somehow. All the lawn mower posts, all the workspace pictures posts, all the ones about tantalum capacitors, etc. Maybe I'll compile some of the most useful information for my personal benefit.

Yeah, Jillye, I hear what you're saying. But, I've learned in my couple of years being a member on this forum that searching for one thing leads you to good info on a dozen different topics, every time. For me,that's what makes the search fun!