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I was at the transfer station today, dumping a trailer load of yard waste.

It was lunch time so the dozer was idle and there were big piles of refuse in front of the pit where they push it into trailer rigs.

Those rigs go to the landfill. They have a few guys who walk around a pull metal out of the piles, but they move slow. They have no profit motive. They seemed to be focused on the cardboard.

The scene made me sick. Tons of metal, wire, computers, lamps, wheels, kitchenware, metal everywhere. A guy pulls up with a dump bed and dumps a big rear axle and an aluminum transmission housing and a bunch of wire and brake rotors.

Another guy backs up a u-haul and dumps a huge BBQ and a big box of chains, some metal yard furniture and a 10-15' run of aluminum ice grate.

This scene made me so ill. The metal flunkies had no prayer of pulling it out before the dozer pushed it into the pit.

Scavenging is prohibited here, but I did reach down and score a big 1950's "V8" hood emblem that was just sitting there.

It was a sad sight, a crying shame!

Gotta get home to see American Idol

And where can you turn in this junk? Thats not near Wal Mart!

We have a few private landfills which are "green" by me. You pay the same amount as you would to go to the dump $15.00, they don't take food waste. When you go in they ask you what you have on your load then direct you where to dump it. As you dump it people go thru the debri and seperate out all the metal, plastic, cardboard etc. They even seperate out the yard waste so they can make mulch and compost out of it and re sell it at the dump. He is also starting to sell plants and other items to the landscapers so its like a one stop shop for them as they unload there yard waste.

here is there website... http://thefairfaxcompanies.com/services.cfm

[quote="Thogey"



The scene made me sick. Tons of metal, wire, computers, lamps, wheels, kitchenware, metal everywhere. A guy pulls up with a dump bed and dumps a big rear axle and an aluminum transmission housing and a bunch of wire and brake rotors.

Another guy backs up a u-haul and dumps a huge BBQ and a big box of chains, some metal yard furniture and a 10-15' run of aluminum ice grate.

This scene made me so ill. The metal flunkies had no prayer of pulling it out before the dozer pushed it into the pit.

It was a sad sight, a crying shame![/quote]


We see $$$ being buried. Others dumped an inconvenience...

All it takes is one guy stomping around in the junk to cut his hand on a piece of rusty metal and it costs the company a five thousand dollar deductible for medical, lost wages, worker's comp, lawyers and lawsuits. Then your insurance premium doubles.

Companies aren't purposefully wasteful, they are profit-driven and are weighing the possible money to be made against the money to be lost. That's why all our E-trash goes oversees; no OSHA. On the plus side, America doesn't have crippled orphans crawling around in junk heaps burning trash for pennies a day. On the down side, other countries have more because we export the junk.

It is truly sad how much people waste. I never understood it until I started hauling garbage every day. There is countless times throughout the day when you just shake your head in disbelief. Its sad when you pull up to a house every week and they have four huge trash cans full(the big ones on wheels). It is also very sad that this much trash for an average family is not uncommon. It is just unreal the things you see everyday. The nice thing is I really benefit from all of it.

Enough to make me cry.

It is because they are uneducated about metal. I go around on bulk trash days and pick up a couple hundred pounds of steel and what ever else I can find. Made about $1500 last year from it just a side job kinda when need some money or have a free night.

Landfill mining is just around the corner. Within the next five year I'd predict it will be common place in the US. If you Google the topic you will see other countries trying it out.

Copper Catcher wrote:Landfill mining is just around the corner. Within the next five year I'd predict it will be common place in the US. If you Google the topic you will see other countries trying it out.

Someone around me spent last winter digging up an old landfill. Made decent money from what I hear.