Running into problems scrapping applainces in Iowa

So... I need help as I am new to scrapping and cant seem to figure some things out.
I have a pretty steady supply of AC units, water heaters, furnaces and other appliances but 1 yard I went to wont take dismantled appliances. I can take in the radiators from the ac units and copper but if I take the copper and brass off of water heaters they wont take them and basically I have to take another load to the garbage dump. I want to make a go out of scrapping cause I enjoy taking stuff apart and would like to make some money.

I also was doing some more research on this matter and came across a website for Alter Recycling which has a location near me in Des Moines and this is what was written on their site. APPLIANCES, HOUSEHOLD
(refrigerators, dryers, microwaves, dehumidifiers, air conditioners, commercial coolers, dishwashers, furnaces, freezers, clothes washers, hot water heaters, kitches ranges/ovens, thermostats, drinking fountains, fluorescent lights, trash compactors, vending machines, etc.) Iowa facilities may accept demanufactured appliances from certified demanufacturers only or may accept if facility is certified to demanufacture (may be subject to fee).

Facilities outside of Iowa may accept if certified free of refrigerants or if facility has the equipment to recover refrigerants. White goods must also be free of PCB-containing small capacitors and ballasts, and mercury-containing components (bulbs, switches), or be removed by the accepting facility.

I need help! I looked into that certification but in order for me to have it I have to have a facility for recycling. Am I missing something? Any help would be much appreciated!!! Thanks!

Miles

Not sure what you are missing. Maybe you are confused by all the wording. In Iowa if your not certified to demanufacture appliances the yard should not be purchasing your scrap appliances regardless of whether or not you have torn them apart.


If you are not a certified demanufacture most reputable yards will not buy from you for good reason. This is done because the yard can get in trouble buying from individuals who are not certified and slapped with a big fine. Individuals who are not certified usually do not processing the units properly. Most times the freon is not being recovered properly, but is just being released into the environment when the lines are cut, this is harmful to our atmosphere. Most individuals do not remove the capacitors from units, which will contaminate the shredder fluff. The oil from the compressors is not drained and disposed of properly, which eventually drains onto the ground from handling and contaminates the ground and the ground water. The mercury switches are not removed, which will also contaminate the ground and ground water and the shredder fluff.

Yes in order to get certified you will need to go to apply for a license with the DNR. Take a course which costs a couple of hundred dollars. Provide a letter from your city or county stating your business is properly zoned for appliance demanufacturing. Provide a ground water run off permit. Complete an inspection with the DNR proving you have the proper equipment to process the different units you will be receiving. Plus a bunch of other hoops you must jump through before they will issue a demanufactures license. Bottom line if your doing this in your back yard or your pickup truck your not going to get a license to provide to a reputable yard in order for them to purchase your carcasses for scrap.

Good luck and don't get caught cutting those lines on the AC units your picking up. DNR officers will conduct sting operations by calling individuals who advertise free appliance removal on websites such as Craigslist to see if the individual is unlawfully demanufacturing appliances or if yards are purchasing those units from unlicensed individuals. The fines and the prison sentences are not worth the risk of making a few dollars off of scrapping old appliances if you are not doing it right.

Thank you! The ac units I get are legally recovered of freon. My Step-father is an HVAC guy that does the recovering for me. He gives me most of the scrap I get. Ill just try to get other scrap that I can make money off of and just take the furnaces and water heaters whole to the scrap yard. I appreciate the detailed answers.

Well i am not located in Iowa far away in South Florida,so i am not familar with your local laws .I have been in the scrap metal Industry for 12 years.It might make it hard for a new person starting up with all the hops that have been installed for policeing our Industry,But if you get all your licences and permits you will become a reputabile Recycling company,witch will enable you to advertize all your licences and permits putting you on top of all the street peddlers, then you will see your business Grow!!!!! I have gotten a few large national companys that have searched us out, because of all the Federal, State, and City compliances that we follow.Good Luck to you.Also a yard that will not take water heaters because you have removed the brass is a yard that i would stay far away from, If you are selling shred then thats what you should be payed for, and they should also pay you for your brass, if thats what your are selling them Hamburger is a different price then Steak.

so you are saying is that some one needs to spend a lot of money to be a REPUTABLE scrapper. congressmen and senators spend 10s of millions to get their jobs and presidents close to a billion, soooo by these standards they are very REPUTABLE, and then there is Wall street, and the Banksters, thanks but I put my money on common sence morality and learning. But then I guess thats why Ill never be a politician or rich.

Glad I don't live in Iowa....LOL

LOL okldude. my thoughts exactly.

Sounds like a lot of crap to get a deman license, if your not too far from a state line I'd consider selling cross the line. Might run into a bunch of red tape that way also, better check to be sure, just a thought tho

Quote:

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Originally Posted by taterjuice

Sounds like a lot of crap to get a deman license, if your not too far from a state line I'd consider selling cross the line. Might run into a bunch of red tape that way also, better check to be sure, just a thought tho

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I have never heard it was illegal to haul scrap across state lines........Do we lived in a communist state or is that just Iowa????

Aint illegal here n kansas but where Iowa requires a deman license, itd be logical to think they'd regulate that stuff from be moved out of the state without a permit of some sort at least if not a deman license, I'd imagine this loophole been regulated some how

I thought the 5 cent deposit return on bottles and cans was illegal if you cross into a state that does this from a state that doesn't.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by taterjuice

Sounds like a lot of crap to get a deman license, if your not too far from a state line I'd consider selling cross the line. Might run into a bunch of red tape that way also, better check to be sure, just a thought tho

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I think he's from the middle of the state, might have a bit of a run to a state line.

My bad

Thats always an option. I think im about 70-80 miles from the closest out of state scrap yard in MO. Might be worth saving up and taking a full load down when I can. Iowa has some stupid laws on a lot of things. Its almost as bad as California and Chicago in some things.

All yards regardless of which state you are in are required to verify the units you are delivering have been properly processed. The yard should be having you sign a paper stating that you have properly recovered the refrigerant. This is a federal law. If you look at your receipt you receive from the scrap yard you are selling to it may contain a statement that you have removed the refrigerant from the units or vehicle you are selling. The yard might have you sign a signature pad before paying you which accomplishes this requirement.

This puts the liability on to the person selling the material. If you are selling appliances to these yards and you are not licensed to demanufacturer it is only a matter of time before you may be caught.

Never heard of any thing like this before and I've sold in 3 different states

Read this flyer from the EPA at the following link.

Government official do from time to time check yards to see if they are keeping the required paperwork for disposal of refrigerant. If a particular customer is frequenting the same yard and delivering appliances they will be checked to see if they are licensed for demanning appliances and if you are not you could be subject to a fine.


This pertains to all metal recycling yards in the United States. There could also be state and city regulations that a particular yard must follow in addition to the federal regulations.

Pay particular attention the area labeled "Verification of Refrigerant Removal Prior to Arrival at Landfill"

This is a copy of what every yard in the United States is supposed to do pertaining to keeping records.

You must maintain copies of these documents on
site for at least three years. This documentation
must include:
• A signed statement from the customer that
sent the appliance for disposal stating that all
refrigerant has been removed from the appliance
in accordance with the standards listed in EPA’s
regulations, and
• The name and address of the person (for
example, an appliance retailer) who removed the
refrigerant and the specific date the refrigerant
was removed, OR a contract that refrigerant will
be removed prior to delivery.



http://www.epa.gov/ozone/downloads/S...alBrochure.pdf

Every paper I've ever signed asked if the unit had the refrigerant removed or had it leaked out. If you bring refrigerator that is broke down to the metal and plastic how do they know that you didn't find/given to you that way.

I live in Iowa myself. I do not deal with appliances, but with e-waste. Every state has their quirks. I have been to all of them in the lower 48 many many times over the years. I have found thus far dealing with the DNR in Iowa has not been so bad. I do have a facility and it is not in my back yard. But thus far the State has seemed to be trying to do everything they can to make the process tolerable. They certainly have not been splitting hairs with me. Everything seems to be pretty straight forward and has been explained to me in layman's terms.

I come from a background in the trucking industry and it seems to me that this industry has far fewer regulations that the trucking industry did.

Our system is broke and needs a TOTAL overhaul from the ground up. Our government seems to get farther off track every day.

But if starting and running any business were easy everyone would do it. I don't even feel close to anything like "Big Brother" is watching me. But I do try in every way I can to do the next right thing.

I love IOWA and I am certainly not sorry I live here! I am sure every state in the union has its own little annoying regulations about one thing or another.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by msearl3244

I live in Iowa myself. I do not deal with appliances, but with e-waste. Every state has their quirks. I have been to all of them in the lower 48 many many times over the years. I have found thus far dealing with the DNR in Iowa has not been so bad. I do have a facility and it is not in my back yard. But thus far the State has seemed to be trying to do everything they can to make the process tolerable. They certainly have not been splitting hairs with me. Everything seems to be pretty straight forward and has been explained to me in layman's terms.

I come from a background in the trucking industry and it seems to me that this industry has far fewer regulations that the trucking industry did.

Our system is broke and needs a TOTAL overhaul from the ground up. Our government seems to get farther off track every day.

But if starting and running any business were easy everyone would do it. I don't even feel close to anything like "Big Brother" is watching me. But I do try in every way I can to do the next right thing.

I love IOWA and I am certainly not sorry I live here! I am sure every state in the union has its own little annoying regulations about one thing or another.

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Well said

Keycity- When I started scrapping I called the local yards here and asked about removal of refrigerants. I got the answer that it did not need to be removed for them to accept a/c, refrigerators etc. then I discovered why. They had all the appliances with refrigerants in a separate area with one of their guys doing the removal. Since that time I have become much wiser about the parts and metals that can be recovered after evacuacting the system. I also have a deal with a friend to recover all refrigerants and we split 70/30 in his favor when he sells it. I never have been asked to sign anything regarding where it was obtained and who evacuated the refrigerants.

That flyer also states that yards can accept appliances and have their own technician remove the freon.

All of the AC or freon filled stuff is legally reclaimed. My step dad whom I get most of my ac stuff from does hvac and he pulls all of the freon out legally for me. Just seems for a lack of better terms "stupid" that even water heaters and furnaces, they wont take unless left whole. They will take them whole but WILL NOT pay for them. If I take the brass fitting from water heaters they wont take them and tell me to take them to the dump. Same with stoves and furnaces. I have been talking to a couple yards in Missouri so I might just take the trip down there. Its only about 65 miles away. I dont know, just seems a little weird. I have been hoarding ferrous for a bit and have about 2 tons give or take.

water heaters and furnaces are all considered appliances( white goods) furnaces have capacitors and both furnaces and water heaters can contain trhermocoupling that have mercury in them. They are not trying to do this to burdin you they are doing it to protect future for everyone, our kids, grand kids and also your own health. I am in the process right now of becoming a IA certified appliance demanufactor and it is alot of stuff to do and it is going to cost me around $1200 when all said and done but it is part of the business and i want to do it the right way and the legal way. so even if your step dad is recovering the freon he is not removing all the hazardous material ( mercury, capacitors contaning PCBs ect.

I'm looking for a scrap metal person in waterloo iowa to haul away some metal?