Most valuable scrap Plastics and China?

**recyclersteve** · 10-21-2018, 05:12 PM

If they were truly worth anywhere near that, scrap yards everywhere would be tripping over each other to buy them.

I've actually been told by my scrap yard that they won't buy plastic or glass. And they are more liberal than some of the others in the area- by that I mean they will take catalytic converters without a receipt showing that you bought a new one. Also, they take bare bright without a business license, so for them to flat out refuse plastic is not a good sign.

Also, some states (like Michigan, Oregon and California) have bottle (and plastic) return programs where you can get 5-10 cents each for returning them. But it is meant only for people in those states. Someone from a neighboring state transporting a large quantity across state lines could be in big trouble for trying to "game the system." I remember reading that one state (pretty sure it was California) said they calculated that more than 100% of the plastic and/or metal containers they sold were being returned. This seems impossible until you account for items brought into California from Nevada and Arizona (but not Oregon, which has its own program) to get the extra money.

It gets even more complicated: I remember going to a scrap yard that I never actually dealt with. I was traveling and just wanted to check out their pricing since they were in a rural area. I asked about what they paid for aluminum cans. The response surprised me. The lady at the yard said they pay 30 cents a lb. if the cans are crushed and 60 cents a lb. if they are not. She admitted that many of the uncrushed ones end up going to another state that has a program to pay more for cans. So she freely admitted that they were breaking the law. She dodged her way out of it by saying that they sold to someone else first and that other party was the one who took the cans across state lines.

**520** · 10-21-2018, 08:20 PM

Originally Posted by recyclersteve

If they were truly worth anywhere near that, scrap yards everywhere would be tripping over each other to buy them.

I've actually been told by my scrap yard that they won't buy plastic or glass. And they are more liberal than some of the others in the area- by that I mean they will take catalytic converters without a receipt showing that you bought a new one. Also, they take bare bright without a business license, so for them to flat out refuse plastic is not a good sign.

Also, some states (like Michigan, Oregon and California) have bottle (and plastic) return programs where you can get 5-10 cents each for returning them. But it is meant only for people in those states. Someone from a neighboring state transporting a large quantity across state lines could be in big trouble for trying to "game the system." I remember reading that one state (pretty sure it was California) said they calculated that more than 100% of the plastic and/or metal containers they sold were being returned. This seems impossible until you account for items brought into California from Nevada and Arizona (but not Oregon, which has its own program) to get the extra money.

It gets even more complicated: I remember going to a scrap yard that I never actually dealt with. I was traveling and just wanted to check out their pricing since they were in a rural area. I asked about what they paid for aluminum cans. The response surprised me. The lady at the yard said they pay 30 cents a lb. if the cans are crushed and 60 cents a lb. if they are not. She admitted that many of the uncrushed ones end up going to another state that has a program to pay more for cans. So she freely admitted that they were breaking the law. She dodged her way out of it by saying that they sold to someone else first and that other party was the one who took the cans across state lines.

Funny because a rural scrap yard near me unapologetically told me they do the same thing with cans. Sell to a buyer who takes them from AZ to CA.