Last of the Mccoys

I can get mixed up as to how long I've been a Hunter scrapper
best I can figure is 10 years or approaching it .
I remember the competition of van's pickup's bursting with scrap
thing's did not stay on the street long . Some times you see it , pass it , turn around
and saw some one got there before you.

Times have changed - TV's sit out day after day to weeks
Dumpsters you can spot good stuff
go home come back 3 days later and stuff is still there
Heck I like it this way . Some of the younger generation
not going for it . Can't speak of all the States but this is what I see here
Also I was hitting a dumpster in normal territory and a Guy comes out of the store and says to me LOOK
our investigating team is going to investigate you for theft , this stuff in dumpster is for recycling
I said it's a dumpster of wood and metal & trash , I also will recycle what I take . He just walked away
After a decade I think the fear of being sued is alive and well & the trust is gone .
The let the Odd hard working guy alone to do his thing is fading away .
Any way here I am still scrapping feeling like the time is a blink of an eye in time

Litigation and liability concerns rule all these days. I was always fine with people rummaging through stuff I tossed, but in this day and age if anything happened to them (at no fault of mine), there is a chance I'll get sued. Insurance is not cheap, and neither are lawyers. Its also a problem for me when picking up at corporate offices, as their requirements for a Certificate of Insurance grow almost daily. Its an uphill battle but the cost of doing business. I feel for the average scrapper that is just trying to make a buck. Dont expect it to get any better until some form of tort reform takes place to wipe out frivolous suits. Just my $.02

Saving the environment is the big mantra now days. When I ask someone if I can have an old washer, dryer, stove, etc., I mention that I want to recycle it. That is really what I am doing. Taking the copper out (cord, wiring, motor, etc.) and sending the rest to the shred pile. Most people want to recycle. I am currently scrapping out an old tavern. Owner is from California. In California, recycling is the big mantra, so he is letting me strip out the wire, copper propane lines, compressors, etc.

Try using recycling more, than the term scrap. It works for me.

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Originally Posted by CopperSquirrel

Saving the environment is the big mantra now days. When I ask someone if I can have an old washer, dryer, stove, etc., I mention that I want to recycle it. That is really what I am doing. Taking the copper out (cord, wiring, motor, etc.) and sending the rest to the shred pile. Most people want to recycle. I am currently scrapping out an old tavern. Owner is from California. In California, recycling is the big mantra, so he is letting me strip out the wire, copper propane lines, compressors, etc.

Try using recycling more, than the term scrap. It works for me.

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Yes the consumer in house scrap is alive and well people want it out

Prices are down and costs are up. 5 years ago I was getting pickup loads of high grade material. I find myself consolidating more than scrapping now sitting in cash waiting for opportunity's to arise.

I got NZ$7 a Kg for Copper #2 this week. Best its been for years (& years)
Good $ for Cut/Ali mix & Ali is up a little bit. It might have something to do with the NZ$-US$ exchange rates but metal is up.

And so is petrol.... NZ$2.30/litre. That's US$1.60 a litre. Was less than NZ$2.oo 5-6 weeks ago.

I find the following up: Availability, Ignorance, Operating Costs, Liability, Commodities

I also find the following down: Competition, Material Quality (A broom handle weighed 3 lbs twenty years ago, they are a half pound and still steel today), Feeder Yard Prices (longer travel to better yards)

The point I'm making, if you can move the readily available material to the consolidation yards you will do better now than you did ten years ago. Gone are the days of running around the state in a 7mpg pickup truck. I still, even with our size scope large scores on the motorcycle. People tend to be ignorant and tell me they have all kinds of e waste and just need it gone. I get there and sure...they have all kinds of printers and broken lcds. Also yes I completely agree people want to recycle, but fewer know where and if you've perused your municipal websites you will find that they don't make it any better in telling their residents where to take that pesky computer from college.

The landscape of scrap is changing too. Two years ago the chinese exporters would crawl all over the scrap yards that accept e waste looking for scores. Today, nobody shows up. I'm being told that shipments are being held that were sealed up in January. Exporters that I know are looking for domestic outlets so they won't lose all their money. I'm finding my niche in that. Canadian tariffs on exports might hurt short term but again, they were just selling to china so that isn't any better.

A friendly reminder too, if your in doubt, go in and ask. Be kind and courteous and tell them you will clean up after yourself. 95% of the time you will get a happy reply and an ok.

I pretty much stopped doing all scrap pick ups unless free minus 2 or 3 steady good customers. Now I produce my own scrap, in the form of used demo cars. Aside from the occasional too cheap to pass up junk car, I'll stick to scraping my own stuff.