new to baled cardboard/paper broker business

I beg to differ, APA. Cardboard and Mixed News are riding high, this year. The prices from Q1 were some of the highest seen nationally since the 1990's. It's cooled quite a bit but the numbers are still very good. In the Northeast, we were enjoying cardboard for nearly $190 per ton and most paper in the mid-hundreds. I believe both are closer, now, to $150 and $100, respectively.



One reason the OP may not be getting callbacks is because most large accounts will already have dedicated brokers and contracts. These arrangements probably include non-competes and other legal obligation. Admin may be on high alert for people fishing these accounts and the procedure is to ignore when possible. I think the West Coast is WM territory.

If I were in your position, I would be hitting up smaller municipal accounts and mid-scale scrap fiber producers, like grocery stores and newspaper presses (if those even exist anymore). These tend to be in a position to talk shop, since they produce enough to have tonnage and/or bales but not enough to be able to command their own market destinies. You might also talk to recyclers of other products, like plastics and electronics, as they tend to generate fiber stock as a by-product of their collection mechanisms and they already have the baling equipment. The West Coast has some very serious players in recycling and environmental stewardship but their proximity to Asia means that the "easy tons" are already spoken for and sold.

Have you considered loaning equipment to accounts with product but no machinery?