Another update for Summer 2016. We had an incredibly hot weekend and I was busy Saturday collecting cardboard at an outlet mall. I don't usually collect here but made the 40 mile trip because there are a bunch of big box stores nearby that I wanted to scout. No luck at the big box stores. Spent half the day filling up my truck with cardboard and scrap metal and nearly passed-out behind a Target store from the heat. Then we got a spot thunderstorm which ended my collecting for the day. Was it worth it? Probably not, but I realized on the drive over that I should expand into collecting e-waste and scrap metal. A number of customers asked if I collected e-waste in the past and I reluctantly took it and sold to a scrap yard for about 20 cents a pound. But I've been researching on the internet and it seems to be a natural extension of what I do now and doesn't require any new equipment. Right now I'm just piling the computers and printers into a storage container and will look for buyers when it is near full. I think Asian buyers are still looking for this stuff.
As for the paper business, it hasn't been this good for a long time. I'm seeing really strong demand from my buyer. He's willing to buy everything I have including mixed paper and boxboard. And prices have gone up by another $5-$10 in the past month which delivers a pretty solid profit each week. My two workers and I have been collecting everything we can find and I even went out on a few night and weekend runs just to top-off some shipments for my buyer. My workers got a bonus for the first time since Christmas and they now have a weekly target for collecting and if they achieve it they get the bonus. Not sure how much longer these good times will last. I always read about China's economy slowing down. But I'm not seeing it from my scrap yard in Philly. I've got two intermodal containers full and ready for pick-up later today - destination China. I've been mostly saving up the profits I've made this year, expecting some weaker pricing in the future. But if things stay good for the remainder of the year, I might look at adding new eqpmt like another truck, another scale and a larger baler. Well that's enough of a coffee break for me, back to work.
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