just about shed a tear just now...

I just passed in the big hallway one of our janitors wheeling nearly a full bin of old "blue smurf" telecom wire from our facility out to the trash dumpster. I sold some of this stuff earlier in the year and got light #2 insulated for it (around here right now about 50 cents a pound). He probably had between 100-150 lbs of the stuff. But as far as I know our facility (or maybe GSA in general) doesn't have a "scrap" policy for such stuff going to a GSA auction. Or the local plebites haven't figured out (or don't want to) how to do it. In the end, it would probably cost the gov more money in "handling" this scrap wire than its worth, especially what it would probably sell for at a GSA auction. But its still the principal, especially how we brag how "green" we are doing other stuff. I just hope the trash haulers dig it out and take it in for some coin.

I think they also get our Al cans (which for a year could add up to a nice pretty penny given the size of this facility). In years past, our employee "association" used to use the can money to do things. But we had a purge about 7 years ago where the fraternization of all employees (we all work here and support the same mission even if various parties issue us our individual paychecks) cost the top gov guys their jobs. Now I guess the trash guys get that nice extra bonus. Bureaucracy at its finest...

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Originally Posted by DakotaRog

In the end, it would probably cost the gov more money in "handling" this scrap wire than its worth, especially what it would probably sell for at a GSA auction.

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If you look at some of the GSA auction sites, they are "handling" and selling stuff worth a lot less that what you have mentioned. For example, a small fridge was being auctioned. It was salvage (scrap), worth at best $5, a lot less than that wire was worth.

I sold similar telcom the beginning of the month at $1.10 per pound

There's only 2 non-ferrous places in my medium-small metro that I know of. I guy I go to is offering .55/1.10 a lb. for insulated Cu wire. Your yard probably has a end user or export market close by. Consider yourself lucky for your price :).

I know there's probably a whole lot of guys on here that wouldn't make the effort to take in light steel for what we get paid here for at least the past year or more. Then again, when I was in high school shred was $12-15 a ton here...

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Originally Posted by DakotaRog

There's only 2 non-ferrous places in my medium-small metro that I know of. I guy I go to is offering .55/1.10 a lb. for insulated Cu wire. Your yard probably has a end user or export market close by. Consider yourself lucky for your price :).

I know there's probably a whole lot of guys on here that wouldn't make the effort to take in light steel for what we get paid here for at least the past year or more. Then again, when I was in high school shred was $12-15 a ton here...

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The place that I got that price from is an electronic recycler that has a sister company that does wire. They have their own chopping line to process wire. Got a little tour the last time I was there. They shred most boards before selling to a refiner. Was really neat. Most of the heavy items (copper and aluminum) come off and get separated. This reduces the total weight to be refined, this reducing the number of pounds to refine and increasing the PM recovery per pound.

Dakota,

You mean that in your gov't facility your bosses cannot have lunch with the guys n gals down in the trenches? How come? Is this a military thing or just a plain gov't office?

Jon.

No, they certainly could but usually not (or a bunch of managers sit together). No, the center has a general mission but employees are either actual gov or not actual government although many of the latter have been there for years and years. For most of us there isn't really a distinction (I was one of the "other" for 7 years before I had a chance to switch over) but in the bureaucrats eyes (especially from HQ types from out east) there is a big difference. We just try to ignore them for as much as possible :))