Greetings from Vernonia, Oregon

I spent my last 18 years in a cube farm designing circuit boards and now am currently looking for a way to make a living.
I'm not giving up finding another circuit board design job, but I have been very interested in setting up an electronic waste recycling business.

Recently I put an ad in the local paper and the paper created an article to introduce my small business.
It is a small town, so the response has been minimal... but at least I have had a couple of calls for me to pick up old electronics, and clean out garages.

I think that the tear down of old electronics into sellable materials is the main focus that I want to go for, but I also am very interested in processing the circuit boards further by mechanical and chemical/electrical means to refine out the copper, silver, gold and PGMs.

I would be thrilled if I could find a way to get my hands on bulk amounts of circuit boards to process, but have run into several local places not willing to part with their circuit boards unless I have certain certifications under my belt.

Looking forward to gleaning as much of the wisdom and experience that you all have to offer and hope to be able to contribute as well in the near future.

Welcome to the forum. Let me address the last of your intro we as a group don't discuss refining of gold and the how to's of it. There is a very focused forum for that. Gold Refining Forum. So go there and tread carefully because they do not suffer folks who haven't read the recommended reading. Take your time reading there before asking them a question.

Now for my thoughts on ewaste, I currently do what you are considering doing, test, break down, test, sell. The scrap boards I am left with I sell to buyers here on the forum. I don't sell just the boards but other components as well.

I am convinced that I can make much more concentrating on what I do and not even thinking about refining of the material. I did look into it and am happy with my decision.

I highly recommend you take the time to read lots of the old threads and not just the ones on ewaste. You may find an area that can be added to your business that will be profitable. The additional reading will educate you to the point you will likely recognize opportunities you otherwise would miss.

73, Mike

Mike,
I will keep my refining questions out of this forum then, thank you for pointing that out.
Do you find that most of your gains come from reselling working systems, cards, etc. or in selling non-working components/materials into the refining community?

I know I have plenty of reading ahead of me... so off I go!

Thanks again!

Mobius

Welcome to the forum Mobius.
You will make more money selling working systems and cards. I deal mostly with pc's and phone systems and I resell what I can and scrap the rest.
I have a question. Why did the chicken cross the mobius strip.

After that joke..the nerd is strong in here.

;)

An welcome to the forums! Nothing else to say then to wish you luck. Both Mike an Jimi said it quite well.

Good luck!

Sirscrapalot - Keeper of the traveling cooler, quote master, and many more awesome title I can't fit right here.

I am a nerd so what :winner:, Welcome from Beautiful Downtown Kittery Maine