Copper wires in electronics

[saltydecks]

So there is a "recycling center" on my college campus... in quotes cause they are a little on the lazy and dumb side. But they take out what they see is "valuable" from whatever people drop off and then put everything in big cardboard boxes outside for a truck to pick up. and at that point it's free game.

So i cut the power cables off most any appliance they have out there. How small would you say is too small to worry about?

Scraping is something I've started to do in my spare time, and I know yards will accept the copper with insulation on it, but don't know when it's to little to say it's not worth striping myself.

Thanks for the tips

[Dr. Cadmium]

Here's a better idea: take the whole appliance.

Two reasons:

1) You'll make a lot more money. You can sell the working units, fix or part out the non-working ones and then scrap the rest. Light iron/shred scrap adds up quickly. You'll also get more wire, electric motors and other higher value scrap this way.

2) You'll draw less attention to scrapping. If you keep just cutting the cords, then how long do you think it will be before the people running the place start doing it themselves? On the other hand, if the whole appliance disappears, it's like the "trash fairies" came and took the garbage away.


That said, taking items out of a container could border on theft. Is the container marked "property of X" or in a similar manner?