I noticed at least one company that was a buyer here. Not sure if their thread is still up.Originally Posted by Breakage
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I noticed at least one company that was a buyer here. Not sure if their thread is still up.
New Guy
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Metal Recycling Entrepreneur
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I know this is an old post but I make some $$ off every CRT and Monitor. First, I will only take them if free. I will then scrap them out and take them to the transfer station. They let you drop off four for free. If no one is around I always has an extra one or two I toss in. I am only up to about 50 sets right now but I have only been doing this for a couple of months. I hunt down old computers and motors for the most $$.
Here I am cyberdan, at yardsales I am dollardan
Metal Recycling Entrepreneur
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The process I'm trying to get approval for is the separation of the leaded glass from the remaining unleaded glass. Since the CRT processor I'm looking to send material to is 4 states over, I need to find a way to reduce freight costs as much as possible. Since there's no recycling options here in Montana I have to try and get approval from the state to implement this. It's just annoying since CRT's currently just go to the landfill as regular garbage. Anything for recycling them is better than nothing. I can charge for disposal, but I just get the feeling that very few people would pay for disposal with a significant amount leaving little "surprises" outside my door for free leaving me with a mountain of CRT's to dispose of at a major loss.
The only unknown is what the line between non-hazardous/hazardous disposal on CRT's is. I'm hoping to dance around the hazardous waste licensing without having to get it since it's $40k/year here. I tried contacting the EPA and their answer was below:
"we don't approve/disapprove of processing methods. Read the below links (all of which were password protected) on what hazardous waste is and go from there".
Pretty much what I took away from it was the EPA won't tell you if a process is in violation until they decide to swoop in and slap you with a hefty fine. Such is government bureaucracy I suppose. Hopefully I get better answers from the state DEQ.
Metal Recycling Entrepreneur
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I've seen some CRT processing videos on youtube. One of the significant concerns would be the phosphorus inside the tube ... if you opened it up in some way. Don't know as i would want to be working around that stuff everyday. It's quite toxic to humans. I've seen them vacuum it out but then that creates it's own set of problems. How do you dispose of the phosphorus the right way ? There's always some dust that blows through the vacuum and gets up into the air in the shop.
Honestly ... i think i would just ship the complete CRT's off to somebody that is set up to deal with them properly. Let them deal with the toxic nasties and legal liabilities that go with handling that stuff.
Just make sure that they are properly accredited so that it doesn't blow back on you later on ... if they do something irresponsible.
Another thing to consider is the federal EPA. The state epa's can be reasonable to deal with. The federal EPA not so much. Where the tubes are going interstate ... it's definitely a federal matter.
Here's a little insight into the rulemaking of the feds.
https://www.epa.gov/hw/cathode-ray-tubes-crts-0
It seems we live in a complicated world.
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Don't take this the wrong way but you don't seem to ever think outside the box.......I know you are older and this is not how you make a living but some of us do........You always suggest the easy way out and want to just pawn stuff off onto municipalities or 3rd world countries...........I know from your posts that you cherry pick a little ewaste at this point but some of us actually need this type of material to continue to grow..........Hopefully one day I will make it to your point in life and will be able to kick back and tinker with some stuff but right now I can't turn down anything as bills just get larger each and every monthI've seen some CRT processing videos on youtube. One of the significant concerns would be the phosphorus inside the tube ... if you opened it up in some way. Don't know as i would want to be working around that stuff everyday. It's quite toxic to humans. I've seen them vacuum it out but then that creates it's own set of problems. How do you dispose of the phosphorus the right way ? There's always some dust that blows through the vacuum and gets up into the air in the shop.
Honestly ... i think i would just ship the complete CRT's off to somebody that is set up to deal with them properly. Let them deal with the toxic nasties and legal liabilities that go with handling that stuff.
Just make sure that they are properly accredited so that it doesn't blow back on you later on ... if they do something irresponsible.
Another thing to consider is the federal EPA. The state epa's can be reasonable to deal with. The federal EPA not so much. Where the tubes are going interstate ... it's definitely a federal matter.
Here's a little insight into the rulemaking of the feds.
https://www.epa.gov/hw/cathode-ray-tubes-crts-0
It seems we live in a complicated world.
BUYING ALL COMPUTER SCRAP WORKING OR NOT
CHECK OUT MY BUYERS THREAD http://www.scrapmetalforum.com/scrap...nic-scrap.html
https://getjunk.net/Knox-County-TN-0...Recycling.html
Metal Recycling Entrepreneur
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If you need TVs to be able to grow, oh boy I could get many tons of them. I never touch them because to dispose of the actual waste legally (in my state, obviously your state may be different) is a huge expense/pain. There are many way to dispose of them illegally or at the very least in a gray-area of legality, but for me, who is not doing this as primary income, it isn't worth the hassle. This is the same reason I don't take anything with refrigerant. I know (or have seen) scrappers who assumedly do scrapping full time, who will just poke a hole in an AC or fridge and let all the freon just leak out. That is illegal, and bad for the environment, but hey if you gotta eat and put a roof over your head, I can see why many would do that.
I definitely respect anyone who is doing this full time. The complicated legal hoops are not only hard to decipher to determine what you need to do to operate legally, but also cost a ton of money. It is set up so only big business can legally run these types of things and they are designed to keep competition and little guys from getting in, all under the guise of environmental protection. I looked into getting R2 certified, but you need a warehouse or commercially zoned space, thousands in inspections, and tons of other stuff. Someone said it can cost over $100k to get certified, and is a few thousand each year to keep certified. I imagine whatever it takes to be able to do tvs legally is similar (or could even be r2? does r2 cover tvs?)..... it just isn't feasible, so people keep doing it just under the radar.
Metal Recycling Entrepreneur
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It's all good Mike. I appreciate the honesty and i'm not personally offended. What you're saying is true.
It was a different line of work, but i did run my own business for sixteen years. I know what it's like. Being out there on your own puts you through the changes. It makes you expedient.
One of my mentors, a successful businessman and Master Tradesman once told me " Some jobs are just not worth doing. " I think we might have been talking about a difficult construction project with a particularly difficult customer at the time. All things considered .... that particular project was going to present so many difficulties ... that it wasn't going to be worth doing.
You only have so much time and energy in a day. These are the resources that you have to work with, so you have to use them to their best advantage. The pressure is on you to perform. Choose your jobs wisely and you might survive and prosper. Choose unwisely, and you will have more money going out than you have coming in.
If you find yourself "doing more of the same harder" and the bills are getting larger and larger every month .... you need to start thinking outside the box. Perhaps it's time for a change.
That was somewhat the case with me. The recession of 07-08 hit the construction industry hard. I survived the crash but it was a constant struggle to make ends meet for the next ten years. There just wasn't enough profitable work around to keep me going. I finally said to myself: " I'm going to go broke if i keep doing what i'm doing".
Making the choice to return to the workforce was a difficult transition but i'm back to being profitable again. I'm still very careful in the way i manage my time and energy these days. It's a carryover from lessons learned in the past.
Besides .... I'm Really Really Really Old ! My days are numbered and i know it ! If the prospect of my impending doom doesn't make me expedient then nothing will.
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Later edited to add:
I got to thinking it over and instead of finding reasons why it's not to a good idea to mess with CRT's .... go at it in a different way and see if there's a means to make this more profitable for you.
Maine is vastly different from Tennessee & Montana. These places are worlds apart in the way they do things. The State of Maine is quite progressive to the point that we're right out there on the bleeding edge of recycling.
We've all but achieved herd immunity with some communities being 99 % vaccinated and we currently have a first in the nation recycling bill pending in the state legislature. It would better not to venture into politics here but the progressives ( socialists ) tend to get the government into cahoots with private businesses. It creates possibilities for capitalistic opportunists like ourselves find the exploits and turn an otherwise unprofitable venture into a cash cow.
If you could figure out how our Ewaste system works ... it might spark an idea that you could use where you are. I believe ours works ... i just don't know exactly how. They don't talk about it much.
Last edited by hills; 06-22-2021 at 08:27 AM. Reason: add to
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Good advice you have given here better than just say shipping off and letting someone else deal with it.....pretty lax here and CRT's are dwindling and you see them going into the landfill (unfortunate but true).....at this point pretty standard practice to strip copper/board and landfill the rest.....I know it doesn't solve a problem but humans created this problem when they invented an an inferior device.....I'm 44 years old and it will be my grand kids problem not mine....hate to be this way but what I take in is very little compared to some of the recyclers listed in the links above....old trucks are killing me and about to just bite the bullet and get a new one...will survive and adapt
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To respond to what you added above would be interesting to track where a CRT actually goes in your states recycling program....so many people thought they were doing the right thing over the years only to find out that what they put in a recycle bin ended up in a third world country
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And as far as anyone thinking landfill is a bad option obviously it is but at least it is better contained than being burned on the shores of a devoloping nation....in my opinion there are much worse things in landfills than a CRT.......From what I have seen incineration may be an answer but I don't know enough about side effects/cost to fully endorse
Metal Recycling Entrepreneur
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I hear you. That's why i'm steadfastly opposed to the new recycling bill that we have pending in the state legislature. I don't believe that they are performing due diligence on the programs that we already have in place.
Yeah ... truck expense is a killer. Initial cost, repair, and fuel were my biggest operating expenses and that was four years ago. New work trucks here in Maine are running 50 - 70 grand. Even a 15 year old truck goes for over ten grand. You have to be generating a lot of money in gross sales to be able to afford to run a pickup truck these days.
Otherwise ... it's a slow slipping down life where you eventually go broke. I could see it coming, so i shuttered my business to save my financial hide before it was too late. That was a hard and painful decision that took about a year to come around to.
Metal Recycling Entrepreneur
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I think the landfill is the most expedient choice. I just didn't want to suggest it till now.
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