Sources for e-waste

[messymessy]

Any ideas on how to get old computers for recycling?

I've had some limited success buying stuff from government auctions, but things typically sell for too much to make any money recycling.

Also get them from friends and family, but that's hit or miss too.

[TXSTARFIRE]

I dont have an answer for you but you just know that buisnesses and schools are probably paying someone to take the old stuff when they upgrade.

[Doctor Steuss]

It might be worth checking to see what charities in your city solicit/accept electronics, and checking with them to see what they do with non-functional items they receive. If they just trash them, you could offer to give them a small cash donation in exchange. Win/win/win. They get cash instead of trash, you get some e-waste for a (hopefully) better price than scrap, plus a modest write-off if you itemize.

An example in my city would be the Blind Center. They will take just about any type of electronic. Not sure what they do with non-functional stuff.

[messymessy]

Both great ideas - thank you!

[Dr. Cadmium]

The ideas given above are worth investigating, but be advised that's it's going to be very difficult to find large quantities of computer towers for recycling for multiple reasons:
1) Most individuals, businesses, and schools do not use full computer setups anymore and have not done so for several years.
2) Modern electronics have smaller amounts of precious metal material, the materials they do have are lower value, the ratio of waste material to sellable material is higher, and the labor required to disassemble them is also higher.
3) Gold is at an all-time high. More people are looking for e-scrap than ever before, and there is less quality material available.
4) The e-scrap industry has matured. The recycling chains are better established and it's easier to find prices for materials than years ago.
5) Older computer towers from the late 90's-early 2000's now have a parts value greater than scrap value.

I've made my living working in electronics recycling for 18 years and I have contacts with 30-40 years in the industry, so I know what I'm talking about. Example, on Friday I visited a customer that I've had for 13 1/2 years, and on Saturday I visited a customer that I've had for at least 9 years. If you approached them as a potential recycler or buyer, they would not deal with you.

I recently checked out one of the local electronics recycling drop-off centers and all I saw there were TVs and printers. There were no computer towers, both because there are very few in the waste stream to begin with, and because they're being "cherry-picked" by other people. A buddy of mine has a trash-hauling business and does hundreds of pickups a year, and he only found FIVE computer towers last year to sell to me!

The best years of e-recycling were 2010-2012. Everyone in the industry sees the writing on the wall at this point. Small companies are winding down or closing and large companies are downsizing. Everyone is trying to diversify and find new revenue streams.

[TXSTARFIRE]

5) Older computer towers from the late 90's-early 2000's now have a parts value greater than scrap value.

What parts would be wanted from these old computers?

[pmbug]

I have around 10 old tower computers laying around that I have never bothered to take to the local recycling center. Maybe one day someone will have some fun taking them apart and salvaging something out the parts.

[TXSTARFIRE]

Thats why I was wondering what might be valuable. I probably have a dozen old tower computers.

[Dr. Cadmium]

5) Older computer towers from the late 90's-early 2000's now have a parts value greater than scrap value.

What parts would be wanted from these old computers?

Old towers tend to be worth the most for parts if they are intact and running, especially if they have outdated OSs on them. Otherwise, motherboard/CPU combos and sound cards sell OK.

[TXSTARFIRE]

Thanks.

[messymessy]

5) Older computer towers from the late 90's-early 2000's now have a parts value greater than scrap value.

What parts would be wanted from these old computers?

Old towers tend to be worth the most for parts if they are intact and running, especially if they have outdated OSs on them. Otherwise, motherboard/CPU combos and sound cards sell OK.

How old of an operating system are we talking? And who tends to buy them?

[Lemon Thrower]

here is a lead on some used solar panels.

https://www.zerohedge.com/energy/green- ... solar-farm

[Dr. Cadmium]

How old of an operating system are we talking? And who tends to buy them?

Windows XP and older. Basically anything that works from the early 90s-early 2000s sells for a premium if it has a legacy version of Windows and/or DOS. Earlier this year I sold a laptop that had DOS 6.0 and Windows 3.11 for $90 - had it not had the old software it would have only sold for $20 and taken months to sell instead of less than 1 week.

I've found that customers for these older machines tend to fall into one of two categories:

1) They have an old piece of equipment (think manufacturing or research) with legacy software that only runs in an old OS or only interfaces with a very limited range of hardware. Rather than spend six figures or more to buy a new machine, they will happily shell out $50-$500 for an old PC with the right specs.

2) They want to run old software that has no new version or has not been re-released. This is especially true of old video games. I've also seen people that have used the same inventory or bookeeping software for years buy old machines so they don't have to update.