Are cans even wvorth it in my situation?

Hey all, sorry for the typo in the title.

I've been offered a deal to have access to the dumpsters at 3 high schools thrugh a business contact, I checked them out a few times, usually get filled halfway every week with mixed recycles (mostly from vending machine product scrap, paper is separate) about half cans.

The yard is 30km away and when the car is filled completely with uncrushed cans its worth about $20 @ .45/lb

Im just really not sure its worth it with the need to dumpster dive, get garbage bags for it all.

Let's say I get 3 loads a week, That means I dive in 3 seperate dumpsters, use 20 garbage bags, use $15 in gas and make ~$60? I just really dont know.

crush the cans. you'll triple the amount of weight you can carry in your car.

two man operation. one takes the cans outof dumpster, other guy crushes. perfect if you have a kid or a friend with no job

profit

I guess it depends on how badly you need that $60.

Originally Posted by Mechanic688

If you drive a crown vic then you can get 3-4 bags in the trunk, 3 across the back seat and another one up front.
I usually throw them down on the ground and either stomp on them or run them over with the car to flatten.
I can get about $10-12. worth in a dark green bag. At least $6. worth in a white kitchen bag. Money in the bank,,,

Cans are light enough that a roof rack would be a decent option too. Not in plastic bags, but maybe in heavy duty cloth like hockey equipment bags.

i still pick up aluminum cans when i go on a 3-4 mile walk. i smash mine and put mine in a contractors style bag. i take mine in once or twice a year when i get a truck load. or when i take my other aluminum in.

Aluminum cans are worth it for me. A bag is filled and hauled in with other items to the yard. It is usually enough to buy lunch, a great little reward for little effort.

I think it's worth it , The best way to handle the fuel is figure a way to incorporate it with your normal drive . Not a special trip.

Maybe you can get the schools to let you put separate containers for the cans in the schools, then you would not have to dumster dive.

Aside from the space they take up, they are about the least amount of work with a pretty decent payoff. I don't dumpster dive for them tho, I just drink alot of beer and pick them up walkimg the dog. It's surprisingly hard to convince people to separate and keep them for you for some reason...

yeah i have same trouble no one ever sets them aside for me lol but i find enough in parking lot and drive home to make decent dough

the big thing your missing is not this money this time but the contact in which people will know you teachers staff parents kids all telling them what you do and passing it on. great word of mouth for even bigger connections and when the school wants to toss some other things or put it up for sale. they may ask you for the bid first and so on down the road. so many people to hand your cards to or magnets for the kids to take home and put on the fridge and such things you can turn this into tactfully with out soliciting becoming a problem

It pays to only handle them once. I just pick them up, shake then to make sure theres nothing in them & then squash them with my thumb/first two fingers, so the insides are touching.

I don't squash them more because its second handling & they don't save much more space once the sides are squashed in.

Also, when the scrapper has to put them into the compressing machine, he dosn't want cans that slide everywhere so he has to pick them up & also when he squashes them into a block, he wants them to interlock together so the block will not fall apart.

Update:

I went out one night with a bunch of garbage bags and cleared two dumpsters of cans, filled the crown vic all the way up - made $28 at $0.45/lb

I've decided to not do this regularly, but its good to know its there.

Well said Olddude. Not only cans but...Cell Phones, clothes, there's all kinds of things you could set up in a school to collect.

Sirscrapalot - Find something in life that you love doing. If you make a lot of money, that's a bonus, and if you don't, you still won't hate going to work. - Jeff Foxworthy

You can crush those cans, as either they are going to be crushed sooner or later, you will save more space, hence you will be able to carry more of them at a time or you can also cut the deal with the dumpster that they supply you with these cans at your doorstep and you will pay them 30$ for that. If i were a dumpster owner than I would have done this thing for sure! But for that you really need to have a huge backyard that is ready to become a waste land.