what are the big recyclers doing with the ewaste they buy?

[conrad4784]

Just curious who the big ewaste buyers on the forums are selling to if they are paying high prices? Maybe there not reselling but sending to some refiner. Are there some secret buyers that pay more if you have thousands of pounds lol

[AuburnEwaste]

Who they sell to is what you call a "business secret" and you will not get an answer on that. If you do some reading, it is not very hard to figure out who is selling to another recycler and who is having the material refined.

[jghilino]

The equipment costs for processing/refining ewaste have really come down over recent years. Alot more small companies now have the ability to process there own material.

[cummins]

[cummins]

[BRASSCATCHER]

Its not that big of a secret to figure out. If they are buying in large quantities it is easy for them to have thousands of lbs of one type of ewaste to refine. They have paid to have assays done on each item they buy so they know the roi to expect for each item and it gets priced accordingly. The precious metals market and ewaste go hand in hand, if metals are up then buyers prices are up. When down like now, then their prices are down. There are also buyers who do some refining as well and sometimes pay a little more even when markets are down since they are the final stop for certain items. You can figure out that as well if you compare prices for certain items.

[Draconian]

The vast majority of these buyers end up having their purchases refined. Once that has been done, it becomes a lot easier to find a place to sell it as you no longer have "scrap" - you have pure, useful metal that can be sold to just about any manufacturer to be used in the production of new products.

[conrad4784]

The vast majority of these buyers end up having their purchases refined. Once that has been done, it becomes a lot easier to find a place to sell it as you no longer have "scrap" - you have pure, useful metal that can be sold to just about any manufacturer to be used in the production of new products.

Does this hold true to dvd drives, power supplies, etc. Seems like All I see is people sending motherboards to get refined make since there are more precious metal. But what do they do with the other computer parts? thank you everyone for the information

[jghilino]

with gold down right now i bet you could find some used processing equipment pretty cheap, from companies going out of business, it seems to me like the escrap boom has peaked and busted

[Trot]

I know in southern pa. No boom or bust. They just passed a law making it illegal to throw away electronic trash. This includes the plastic off of them. The trash men will pull the plastic out of the recycling bin. Put a sticker on it and set it on the ground. Only one ewaste yard down here and he pays a whopping .75 /lb. For high grade. Told him he was out of his mind. But he has tons of business from uneducated people just looking to sell. But he is the only one around. Now this is for southern pa only I know there is another pa buyer on here with much better prices, and I have no idea about the other states.

[Mechanic688]

They passed the same law here in Ind. but my trash company I deal with pulls electronic stuff out of the cans and bins every week.
We just had a cleanup in a small town north of here and my trash company supplied the dumpsters. I ended up with 6 computers and a whole trunk full of low grade boards with some gold bearing boards. Not huge but good for me.

[Trot]

Yeah they do the same here but they wouldn't let me setup a table or sell me any of the stuff they got. I tried really hard. But they were having none of the sharing of the goods. Oh well I'll keep plugging at them though. Only takes one yes to make what would be an awesome haul.

[conrad4784]

Thanks you for all the info. I got the just of it for motherboards. For power suppliers, dvd drives, etc Im guessing they are processing them in house (aka shreding them) and removing the the wire,metal, and batteries then shipping the low grade boards to a refiner? I looked into gettting R2 to get a contract with a local hospital. Omg its not cheap. Im going to have to do a lot more research before I spend that much.

[Mmarro89]

Thanks you for all the info. I got the just of it for motherboards. For power suppliers, dvd drives, etc Im guessing they are processing them in house (aka shreding them) and removing the the wire,metal, and batteries then shipping the low grade boards to a refiner? I looked into gettting R2 to get a contract with a local hospital. Omg its not cheap. Im going to have to do a lot more research before I spend that much.

If you really don't know where most segments of e waste go, how much they can be sold for and how they are processed you're going to have a hard time getting into e waste professionally. I wouldn't consider getting r-2 either until you do a lot more reading and/or talking to pros in the industry. I heard an alarming statistic that 63% of IT companies (not specifically e waste recyclers) close their doors within 5 years. Don't let yourself be one of them, it sounds like you have a bit more research to do. Doing so will make things a lot smoother.

[spinroch]

You better have deep pockets and a support staff if you venture into R2 territory. Sell to R2 buyers until you have a good cash flow!

[parrothead]

I had to LOL at this post.

with gold down right now i bet you could find some used processing equipment pretty cheap, from companies going out of business, it seems to me like the escrap boom has peaked and busted

[matador]

Out here, we don't have an E-Waste recycling law. We do collection events, though, and I can tell you that out here, E-Waste is alive and well. We don't pay for stuff at collection events, and have had great turnout.

I think we just have to wait for the flood of companies to recede. A couple of years ago, every man with an F-150 and a car dolly was a vehicle recycler. Now, the serious ones are the guys left. The same thing will happen with E-Waste. Just give it some time.

[msmoorad]

Who they sell to is what you call a "business secret" and you will not get an answer on that. If you do some reading, it is not very hard to figure out who is selling to another recycler and who is having the material refined.

theres a big yard near me
i see guys bringing in stuff all the time, computers, servers etc
and they get paid shred price for it
and then it seems as if the yard just loads it onto trucks bound for the harbour where it gets loaded into containers & shipped to India, China etc

so, i dont see them selling any ewaste per se

maybe i should speak to them about buying their ewaste?

many times ive seen quite a bit of ewaste among the stuff ppl have brought it but i just ignore it

[webuyselltradestuff]

msmoorad - if I read your post correctly, then IF they are shipping off to India etc all the ewaste they collect, then they ARE making a HUGE amount of profit. Those are the top end markets for all ewaste. Shipping via container is the only way to go and allows them the best pricing. They get to pay shred price and get FAR above what even say Ewasted etc pays since they are sending to the END market for this stuff AND shipping in quantity.....they are also not considered Estewards of course LOL....but then again, $$$ talk.

[Flinthills]

msmoorad - if I read your post correctly, then IF they are shipping off to India etc all the ewaste they collect, then they ARE making a HUGE amount of profit. Those are the top end markets for all ewaste. Shipping via container is the only way to go and allows them the best pricing. They get to pay shred price and get FAR above what even say Ewasted etc pays since they are sending to the END market for this stuff AND shipping in quantity.....they are also not considered Estewards of course LOL....but then again, $$$ talk.

I'm not sure what to think anymore. I recently had a gentleman who lives in India email me asking what I'd pay for his ewaste!