What did you scrap?

[Dr. Cadmium]

120 lbs light iron @ 110/GT
80 lbs #1 steel 200/GT
1 lb #1 copper 2.15
1 lb #2 copper 1.90
1 lb brass 1.35
4 lbs pewter 2.00
4 lbs electric motor .12
5 lbs batteries 0.26
15 lbs compressor 0.10
16 lbs old sheet Al 0.35
2 lbs irony Al 0.10
60 returnable cans and bottles 0.05 each

Total $38.51

[cwgii]

120 lb of clean sheet at 145/t
12 lb cans at .65

[hobo finds]

140 lb clean sheet iron $.0725 lb

[xippi]

Tin/light Iron $145.00 or .0647 cent/lb 1140#
AL Old Sheet $0.28 lb 27 lb
Yellow Brass $1.33 lb 10 lb
#2 CU Insulated <3 $0.08 lb 13 lb
#2 CU Insulated 40% $0.09 lb 17 lb
S/S 304 $0.23 lb 7 lb
Batteries $0.17 lb 28 lb
Total $97.30

ouch
just some test items and stuff i didn't want to bring home. still hoarding

[everything]

Sheet iron 104 net @ 105/ton 5.46
Sheet aluminum 17 @ .22 1.98
#1 copper 2 lbs. @2.34 4.68
#2 insulated copper 2 lbs. @ .58 1.16
clean die cast 1 lbs. @.45 .45
TOTAL: 13.73
That aluminum is going right to the garbage from now on, easy to pick but iron is easier.

[Recyclersteve]

The beginning of cleaning out the back yard was taken to the scrap yard today...I think I just heard a cheer coming from my wife.

109# electric motors @ 15c = $16.35
53# stainless steel @ .28 = $14.84
62# clean aluminum @ .30 = $18.60
17# (#2 insulated- black) wire @ .25 = $4.25
13# Christmas lights @ .03 = $0.39 (at that price, yeah, Merry F-ing Christmas to you!)
17# extruded aluminum @ .40 = $6.80
6# bare bright copper @ $2.00 = $12.00 (pretty pleased that the price for bare bright is still $2- it peaked here at $2.40ish)
68# steel @ .035 = $2.38 (is steel even worth hauling? Not unless it is something small and heavy like rebar with no rust)
ROUND UP TO NEAREST DOLLAR = $0.39
TOTAL FOR ABOVE 345# KEPT FROM THE LANDFILLS OF AMERICA ($76.00 FOR ME)

[xippi]

My E Scrap

Finger cards/cd $3.00 22 lb
Green Mother Boards $1.60 43 lb
Colored Boards $1.25 27 lb
Multi Socket Boards $2.10 10 lb
HD Boards $8.50 1.1 lb
RAM $13.50 5.15 lb
Silver Ram $5.00 .45 lb
Pentium 4 Pin/Pinless $4.25 2.4 lb

total $280.88

[cwgii]

120 lb clean sheet at 155/t up 10

[Recyclersteve]

NOTE: Steel in my area went from 3.5 cents/lb. to 4 cents/lb. Small victory.

Steel (97# @ 0.04 = $3.88)
#2 Ins. Copper wire (90# @ 0.30 = $27.00)
Motors (53# @ 0.15 = $7.95)
Clean yellow brass (30# @ 1.30 = $39.00) (the most brass I ever turned in at one time- abt. 2/3 of it was from a chandelier)
Clean aluminum (20# @ 0.29 = $5.80)
Cat. 5 wire (7# @ 0.45 = $3.15)
Aluminum cans (7# @ 0.75 lb. = $5.25)
Round up $0.97
304 POUNDS KEPT FROM LANDFILLS
$93.00 FOR ME

[Dr. Cadmium]

799 lbs mixed wire @ 0.45/lb
80 lbs light iron 110/GT
11 lbs #1 steel 200/GT
9 lbs irony Al 0.10
11 lbs clean ACR 0.85
63 lbs mixed Al 0.37
15 lbs extruded Al 0.43
23 lbs #2 Cu 1.90
1 lb brass 1.35
4 lbs electric motor 0.12
160 lbs batteries 0.26

Got a $0.02 bump on the battery and mixed Al prices.

[Recyclersteve]

799 lbs mixed wire @ 0.45/lb

That is a LOT of wire. Do you snip the ends off of the wire? Also, did you get a lot of it at a single place or was it several small accumulations?

[Dr. Cadmium]

That is a LOT of wire. Do you snip the ends off of the wire? Also, did you get a lot of it at a single place or was it several small accumulations?

No, I don't have to snip the ends off. This was a mix of single and double insulated with the ends still intact. It's from a mix of sources.

[Recyclersteve]

I would LOVE to be able to avoid snipping the ends. Of course, that would kill my returns.

I'd be curious what percent of your wire is something like Romex, which can (at least partially) be converted to bare bright copper without much hassle.

[Dr. Cadmium]

I sort out all of the romex, cat5, thick cable, THHN and anything else that has a really good return and sell that separately.

Most of that 800 lbs was power cords, VGA and other computer cables, extension cords, IDE ribbon, small gauge electronic wire, autmotive wiring harness and other types usually classified as "low grade wire" by most companies. The only restrictions when I sell it are no aluminum wire, coaxial cable, BX, or fiber optic.

IDE ribbon can fetch a slightly higher price by itself, but I don't get enough of it to bother doing a separate grade and it's also difficult to find a buyer for.

[Recyclersteve]

Thanks Dr. Cadmium. I have to snip the ends off my wire to get just 30 cents a lb., so you are getting a great deal there.

By the way, your name reminds me of something I heard, so here is another question for you.

I've got some electrical circuit breakers from residential electrical control panels that I would like to recycle. The contacts inside the circuit breakers have silver in them (varying percentages depending on the mfgr. and model number), but I've heard that there is cadmium mixed in with the silver and that it is a known carcinogen. I thought that because your name is "Cadmium" that you might be able to shed some light on this matter. Is there any info you are aware of regarding this?

[Recyclersteve]

Motors (21# @ .13 = $2.73)
#2 Ins. copper wire (37# @ .30 = $11.10)
Cat 5 wire (2# @ .60 = $1.20)
#1 THHN wire (2# @ .85 = $1.70)
Romex wire (11# @ .70 = $7.77)*
Round up to nearest dollar = 50 cents

73 POUNDS KEPT OUT OF LANDFILLS
$25.00 FOR ME

A FEW COMMENTS:
1) No steel whatsoever today (very rare for me).
*2) I felt that the Romex wire could have contained asbestos and told that to a couple guys at the yard. It came from a roughly 50-year old house that was being gutted. They didn't flinch and accepted it. I didn't want to try and strip it, even though I'd normally strip Romex.
3) Electrical motors went down from 15 cents/lb. to 13 cents this time. Just got 15 cents last week. Oh well...

[Dr. Cadmium]

I've got some electrical circuit breakers from residential electrical control panels that I would like to recycle. The contacts inside the circuit breakers have silver in them (varying percentages depending on the mfgr. and model number), but I've heard that there is cadmium mixed in with the silver and that it is a known carcinogen. I thought that because your name is "Cadmium" that you might be able to shed some light on this matter. Is there any info you are aware of regarding this?

Yes, sometimes the solder that holds the contact to the busbar contains cadmium. When you sweat them off you should be in a well-ventilated area and wearing a full-face respirator with chemical filters. When you sell the contacts or have them refined, the purchasing party may deduct an additional fee for the hazardous contamination.

I would recommend using a MAPP gas or oxygen-acetylene torch. Heat the bar until it is red hot, and the contact will slip right off with a scraping tool. I've seen contacts that are anywhere from 40% to 99+% Ag, not accounting for the solder contamination. Newer breakers often have no silver or the contacts are too tiny to be worth the time to remove. Busbars are usually copper, brass, or steel.

You are getting very good prices on Cat5 and THHN.

[Recyclersteve]

You are getting very good prices on Cat5 and THHN.

I think I got a little lucky on those. The owner of the shop was gone for the day and his backup was doing the pricing.

[natsb88]

I've got some electrical circuit breakers from residential electrical control panels that I would like to recycle. The contacts inside the circuit breakers have silver in them (varying percentages depending on the mfgr. and model number), but I've heard that there is cadmium mixed in with the silver and that it is a known carcinogen. I thought that because your name is "Cadmium" that you might be able to shed some light on this matter. Is there any info you are aware of regarding this?

Yes, sometimes the solder that holds the contact to the busbar contains cadmium. When you sweat them off you should be in a well-ventilated area and wearing a full-face respirator with chemical filters. When you sell the contacts or have them refined, the purchasing party may deduct an additional fee for the hazardous contamination.

I would recommend using a MAPP gas or oxygen-acetylene torch. Heat the bar until it is red hot, and the contact will slip right off with a scraping tool. I've seen contacts that are anywhere from 40% to 99+% Ag, not accounting for the solder contamination. Newer breakers often have no silver or the contacts are too tiny to be worth the time to remove. Busbars are usually copper, brass, or steel.

You are getting very good prices on Cat5 and THHN.

Make sure the refiner knows what they are getting. Some don't want anything with cadmium at all. Smaller operations often aren't set up to process it. I remember an incident on BullionStacker a few years ago where somebody melted a bunch of scrap into a bar and threw some contacts in. They sold the scrap bar without mentioning what all went into it and the cadmium content was a surprise to the buyer. The seller lowered the value of the entire lot of scrap by contaminating it with cadmium. The buyer reduced their offer accordingly and the seller was very upset, airing it on the open forum. The lesson: don't mix and melt stuff if you don't know what you are doing; keep contacts separate from other silver scrap.

[Recyclersteve]

Make sure the refiner knows what they are getting. Some don't want anything with cadmium at all. Smaller operations often aren't set up to process it. I remember an incident on BullionStacker a few years ago where somebody melted a bunch of scrap into a bar and threw some contacts in. They sold the scrap bar without mentioning what all went into it and the cadmium content was a surprise to the buyer. The seller lowered the value of the entire lot of scrap by contaminating it with cadmium. The buyer reduced their offer accordingly and the seller was very upset, airing it on the open forum. The lesson: don't mix and melt stuff if you don't know what you are doing; keep contacts separate from other silver scrap.

Wow- good to know. Thanks Nate.

[hobo finds]

140 lb sheet iron $.055 lb

[cwgii]

200 lb clean sheet,, old shelf 15.50

[Recyclersteve]

From yesterday's visit to the local scrap yard:

#2 Insulated Copper wire (black + colored) (85# @ .25 = $21.25)
Cat. 5 wire (28# @.60 = $16.80)
Motors (35# @ .155 = $5.43)
Rounding up .52
Extra $5 (from dispute on 7/19/18 transaction) (they underpaid me on motors back then)
148 POUNDS KEPT FROM LANDFILLS
$49.00 FOR ME

[Dr. Cadmium]

Light iron/shred has dropped here. If it goes below $100/GT the local yards will have a very slow winter.

180 lbs light iron 100/GT
4 lbs extruded Al 0.43/lb
18 lbs mixed Al 0.37
7 lbs irony Al 0.10
37 lbs electric motor 0.12
1 lb #2 copper 1.90

$23.46 total

[xippi]

10/23/2018

Tin/light Iron $150.00GT 330#
Batteries $0.18 lb 10 lb
total $23.25