Expanding into other recyclables worth money

Hello, just want to say very glad to of found this place.
I been scrapping metal for about 4 years now, I'm 25 and get most of my scrap while out working, doing lawn service.
I have also done very good dumpster diving but here recently that has gone for the worst. I been ran off one site by a shop manager, stopped by the po po twice within the last month. So my scrapping and extra income has really taken a hit.

I been thinking about other materials that can be found much easier than metal such as paper and cardboard. Anyone have luck with these here?

What about plastic bottles that say .05 cents Michigan/etc....Those are everywhere here in Kentucky. I wonder if I collected enough to fill up a box truck if I could take to Michigan and get .05 a pop? No one in Ky buys scrap plastic bottles, we do have paper and cardboard buyers.

I've thought about the whole bottle return thing too, but considering it would take me hours to get out of Texas to ANY state, that alone wouldn't cover my gas bill to even consider such a thing. There's a town about 2 hours away from my residence that does buy plastic, paper, cardboard, glass, etc but you would need literal tons of it to see any benjamins going into your wallet.

I've scrapped cardboard one time, someone dumped a bunch behind my lawn care shop so instead of tossing it into the dumpster I took it to the paper place to see how it works. Same as any scrap yard just back up and dump into a massive pile. That was about a year ago,,,cardboard was at $50ton and mixed paper at $45 ton. I know some grades of office paper can go for over 1k$ a ton.

$50 a ton is extremely low but when I would go out dumpster diving I'd see so much of it. Only thing I can see getting in the way of getting businesses to hold me their cardboard and paper is having some where to keep it. I'd have to make a big wood container for each site to put it so wind doesn't blow it away making a mess etc,,

in maine i save up my bottle's that my family drinks, and cash them in once a month. i usually get $30. But if you look all over the roads there is a BUNCH. i would start scrapping cardboard/plastic and wood pallets... but cant find a buyer

Here we are having some serious flooding but the water has receded some leaving behind nothing but lots of drift wood, mud, tons and tons of plastic drink bottles, oil quarts etc,,freaking everywhere! If I could get .01 a piece I'd be out there collecting, not much but better than sitting at home with no scrap to work on.

One bad thing I did find out about the paper and cardboard here. Is that they are not always buying, sometimes they shut down and stop buying. So I don't know what to think about that. Would suck to collect a fat truck load of paper and then they don't buy an I have to hold for a undisclosed amount of time. Still would like to give it a shot. Hopefully their is a paper scrapper on here that can give some good insight.

Hauling a box truck full of bottles to another state reminds me of that Seinfeld episode when Kramer and Newman tried to pull off the same thing - using a mail truck! HAHA! Anyone remember that?

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Originally Posted by BigRyan

Hauling a box truck full of bottles to another state reminds me of that Seinfeld episode when Kramer and Newman tried to pull off the same thing - using a mail truck! HAHA! Anyone remember that?

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Of course. One of the best episodes ever. It might have even been a two parter.

For me it's plastic. I get loads (for me anyway....HAHA) of it from computers, vacuums, small appliances. I have been trying to find a place local to me that will buy in SMALL qty loads from the public....no dice as of yet. I wish we had deposit on glass and plastic bottles in this state but we don't and again no one will buy SMALL qty loads from the general public.

If you have paper buyers in your area....trying mixing that with your lawn service. Maybe agree to free pick-up of all waste newsprint, magazines, computer paper, cardboard, etc...from your residental and commercial clients. Put a "green" enviro spin on it to seal some business.

How about composting the waste grass clippings and leaves from your lawn care business and reselling it as mulch/fertilizer for gardens? Again put some type of 100% organic enviro spin on it.....

Hey Victor too bad they don't have a deposit on glass bottles in your area. We never had it until our provincial government decided to launch a wine & liquor bottle return system in 2007.(I guess to many ending up in landfills). We get .10 or .20 cents per bottle returned depending on size. I'd like to find a place that will pay me for paper/cardboard.

Man, here in the tater state we only get .2 cents a pound for card board. Tried it once. Filled up my pickup, got $3.20. Never again lol. Didnt even pay my gas to git there.

My girl and I do metal, paper and cardboard. It takes a lot of paper or cardboard to make it worth doing. I do it because there are so many scrappers in my area now, some days its hard to find any metal at all. And work is in a slump at the moment. Gotta pay the bills somehow!

Catifsh bob where in ky are you from.Really cardboard you can make very little money because u need so much of it.I used to do it and would get $25-$40 a truck load heck 10 years ago now i dont mess with it.But if it got to slow i could i guess.I used to also take my loaded truck home and run water over the cardboard for awhile to get alot of extra weight lol.

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Originally Posted by trashman

I do it because there are so many scrappers in my area now, some days its hard to find any metal at all. And work is in a slump at the moment. Gotta pay the bills somehow!

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That is why I'm considering it. All my secret scrap metal spots are no longer secret. For the longest time I had three plumbing places that would give me their steel. They kept the copper and brass and left the iron pipes and water heaters behind the dumpster for me. Now who the heck knows how many times other scrappers stop by those same spots all day everyday.
The trash men here quit taking old tv and computer screens so that really hurts my copper pile.

catfish where u living at in ky.

Around Louisville

About a 15 minute drive from the place that buys cardboard! lol

Nearest metal yard is about 20 minutes.

kool i live in louisville myself.

currently cardboard is $145.00 per ton. my girl and i hunt behind stores for bales. it takes us about 3 to 5 minutes loading one that can weigh 300-1000 lbs. we have a low trailer and we come up on the bale with only one thought, " LETS GET IT!!! " we dont walk away empty handed.

Uh huh. And you do have permission to take those bales, of course.

Sounds like a good idea but it might not be, here is why. A few years ago me and a friend of mine tried to do this with alum cans. I live in vegas about 3 hrs away from cali. In cali they pay 5 cents per can. We loaded a truck full of crush cans and drove down there only to find out when we got there YOU HAVE TO PROVE YOU LIVE IN CALI to get that sweet deal. Lucky for us my grandma lives in oceanside and we were able to use her address. I'm not sure if its the same way in michigan, make sure you call the yard to find out before or know someone who live in michigan who will let you use their address.

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Originally Posted by Kris Kringle

How many times have you walked away Handcuffed?

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Stay tuned...Up next, sob story about harassment from the rouges in the desert.

If it is setting there bailed, chances are they are recycling it and did not mean for someone to come along and gank it on them. I would be upset if it was mine and someone took it. What if it was yours and someone took it?

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Originally Posted by Kris Kringle

How many times have you walked away Handcuffed?

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Not enough, apparently.

yes we have written permission to take them from a few different stores!

None. Never been stopped but if we were stopped we always have the paperwork we need to prove we have permission to take the bales.

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Originally Posted by trashman

currently cardboard is $145.00 per ton. my girl and i hunt behind stores for bales. it takes us about 3 to 5 minutes loading one that can weigh 300-1000 lbs. we have a low trailer and we come up on the bale with only one thought, " LETS GET IT!!! " we dont walk away empty handed.

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That is like .07 a pound. Seems like a good price...

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Originally Posted by "Gotta Girl"

yes we have written permission to take them from a few different stores!

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Very good! Now go out and get some more!

AZ is not a bottle deposit state so plastic bottles go in the citys bins. But a new yard opened up that takes #1 plastic bottles for .30 a pound. It takes alot of them to make a pound though!

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we have written permission to take them from a few different stores!

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That's a real good deal, you got your you know what covered that way,,,

My wife works at Wally World.......... and good luck getting their bales! I think your being sarcastic anyways, but I can't tell. LOL
Anyone wanting to get into cardboard recycling should look into gas stations and smaller convenience stores about setting up a permanent bin....... they throw away ALOT of cardboard and that would all add up really fast! You would get a few ton a month at least..... then you would be a regular supplier for the recycling plant and they would probably provide a baler for you.

I suppose it's possible a company would have a baler and still give cardboard away. Would eventually save on trash fees.

Was at an auction a few years ago. Huge baler for sale. They couldn't even give it away. No one had a way to move it out.

Knowing what I know now, I would have tried to get it if I had the equipment to get it out.

Anyone in the DFW, Texas area know if there is anyone buying #1 plastic? I could not find anyone, but did not know if anyone might know of a place.

I would like to find someone in the Tucson area that buys cardboard. So far no luck

you also need to know that if you sell a bottle with a crv on it to a state that pays the crv and the bottles did not come from that state ie you have to cross state lines then you are committing a class 4 felony

I was picking up some carpet padding untill it went from 7 to 4 cents a lb.

Where did you find a buyer for used carpet padding?

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Originally Posted by wavecrazed

I was picking up some carpet padding untill it went from 7 to 4 cents a lb.

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Originally Posted by Catfish Bob

Hello, just want to say very glad to of found this place.
I been scrapping metal for about 4 years now, I'm 25 and get most of my scrap while out working, doing lawn service.
I have also done very good dumpster diving but here recently that has gone for the worst. I been ran off one site by a shop manager, stopped by the po po twice within the last month. So my scrapping and extra income has really taken a hit.

I been thinking about other materials that can be found much easier than metal such as paper and cardboard. Anyone have luck with these here?

What about plastic bottles that say .05 cents Michigan/etc....Those are everywhere here in Kentucky. I wonder if I collected enough to fill up a box truck if I could take to Michigan and get .05 a pop? No one in Ky buys scrap plastic bottles, we do have paper and cardboard buyers.

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Hello. My name is Harold I am actually VERY NEW to this forum. As of about 20 minutes ago! I just wanted to let you know that I AM from Michigan and it is actually .10 cents per bottle. And YES, it does in fact add up pretty well. When my wife and I moved to Texas (last year) it drove my wife crazy to watch people throwing "returnable" cans, glass and plastic bottles away!

Hi Harold, I'm glad you found us. We have a section just for intoductions, its at the bottom of the forum directory. Please take the time to let us know about you and any recycling you do. Mike.