good and bad scrap yards

So I didn't realize how lucky I was to be near so many good scrap yards my whole life until I went out to California a few weeks ago. I was there for a layover in the airport and instead of just sitting in the airport for 20 hours I went out and explored the area. Since I didn't have a car I was just walking around and spotted a microwave just chilling on the curbside. naturally I had to pick it up and find a place to take it. So I carry this thing by hand like a whole mile to the yard and they end up telling me I would have to PAY THEM $5 to get rid of it because its got glass in it and they would have to take out the transformer. So here I am stuck with the darn thing wondering just how anyone can make any money taking scrap to yards like that. I mean the transformer he was talking about is actually worth more than the regular steel price anyway. so the lesson I learned is, if you have a good reputable yard near you be very thankful. If you have say 5-6 yards near you, you probably don't know how good you got it. Around here theres only one yard i've found that i'm not really a fan of so I never really understood the struggle of having to deal with only one yard. but I know now and will respect the yards i've been to a lot more from now on.