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shopping carts

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  1. #1
    Dougl started this thread.
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    shopping carts

    Not sure where to post this on this forum,but I'll try here. Maybe some will see this as a joke.

    I live on an urban creek. As with all urban creeks, we've got homeless people living upstream and, when the water rises, their shopping carts get flushed down the creek. In the last year, I've been pulling many shopping carts out of the creek. Most are very old and corroded. Probably been underwater for a decade or more. While few are identifiable with the store they came from, it's very unlikely they'd want them back and, if they did, they'd probably just send them to the landfill. I understand that metal recyclers are reluctant to take these, because of property issues, but in this case we're talking about JUNK. So is there a recycling strategy that I can use with these? Actually, Walmart has a cart reconditioning program, though they'd probably just get a laugh ou of some of these majorly bedraggled carts. This is a major urban creek, and in just a block or two, I've already hauled about fifteen of them out. In the creek as a whole, there are likely hundreds of them.



    I could call around to local recyclers, but I was hoping to get some generic wisdom here. I could just send them all to the landfill, but would rather not.


  2. #2
    mikeinreco's Avatar
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    I have cut them up before just to get rid of them but probably no worth the cost of blades or time it takes

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    Once in a while, I see local shopping carts making their way to the shred heap. They're generally in fubar condition, but I don't think that they're shipped by the stores themselves. Also, I recall to have seen stored lanes of shopping carts in so-so condition behind some of the grocery stores here too. I suspect that the scrap yard tolerates them as long someone got like just a random one in very bad condition and they're sure that the store won't want it back. Something that look coming from a wreck, the bottom of a ditch or a creek. Cutting them up is a good idea for sure. If you wanna save on blades, one can also use a bolt cutter for the wires too.
    NEW TO SCRAPPING? READ THIS: Build up your horde of magnetic and non-magnetic metals in two piles until you have a better understanding of the business. Magnetic material has low value and is mostly always steel / shred / short iron. Read old threads about non-magnetic metals and ewaste (and how to sort them), but don't forget that they generally have absolutely no tolerance for contamination (screw / iron / foreign material).

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  8. #5
    Dougl started this thread.
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    Thanks. This all makes good sense. Yes,I've heard that cutting them up is one strategy, but that's a PIA. I tell you, though, our urban creeks are FULL of these things (along with clothes, shoes, and various personal care items). You'd think if someone is going to take the trouble to steal one of these, they'd tie it up, if they're near a creek that floods.

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    I think if you spoke with the yard and gave them some pictures they would let you scrap them as is. I would not break them down. Recycle as is and move on.
    Better than the dump!

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