E-Scrap: Basics of Electronic Scrap

What is E-scrap?

E-scrap, or electronic scrap, is the waste from computers, TVs, office equipment, and other electronics that have been discarded. But why should you care about e-scrap? Well to quote the European Commissioner for the Environment Janez Potocnik from an interview with BBC, "There's gold in waste - literally. It takes a ton of ore to get 1g of gold. But you can get the same amount from recycling the materials in 41 mobile phones." As most of us also know, gold is valuable. Currently it is hovering between $1,500 and $2,000 an ounce. Throw in the mix of other valuable metals like copper, rare earth metals, platinum and palladium; suddenly your electronic waste will start looking like dollar bills. 

My E-scrap is valuable. So what do I do with it?

A very fair question to ask. Luckily, there are several fairly easy options to profit from your e-scrap. 

Ebay

Ebay is always a simple option if you really want to stay at home and not have to lug around your materials. Gold yielding material is the most prevalent item but there are buyers of every kind of e-scrap out there. Research on pricing and shipping costs will be the largest investment of time(and maybe money) but the profit potential is there.

Scrap Yards

Your go-to scrap yard could also be a buyer of your e-scrap too. In some areas, such as mine, this entails a long drive to take my scrap material to an e-scrap buyer as they are not close by but others could be fortunate enough to have one just down the street. Pricing for e-scrap is available online(one example site is here).  All the same scrap metal principles apply to e-scrap. Know what you got, know the rates, and get paid right. 

Vendors

Online vendors are another great place to sell your e-scrap. The one major disadvantage is they frequently have minimum weight or unit requirements to sell to them, although some yards may have the same deal. The upside is you can just ship it out and not have to drive, much like the Ebay option. Their rates are frequently competitive as well. A quick example vendor can be found here. Again, research the market rates and know what you have and how much. 

More than trash.

E-scrap is a lot more than plastic covered in little transistors and wiring. With a discerning eye, a little know-how and some leg work, e-scrap can turn out to be a very profitable mix into your scrapping or recycling plans. 

Scrap Around the House: Garage/Basement/Workshop

Scrap Around the House, part 3

The final part in my short yet hopefully useful guide to looking for scrap metal around your house. The last section will cover looking the work area(s) of the house. Let's get to it then.

Looking around your garage/basement/workshop we may see...

• Tools: Tools that most people probably have in their house are screw drivers, hammers and pliers. Tools eventually rust to near uselessness(sooner rather than later if not taken care of) but fear not. Most consist of high quality steel or other materials that will help take the sting out of having to replace them. 

-If you are more serious about tools, power tools are also another great source of materials. The wiring and motors are heavy and real quality pieces can hold valuable scrap. Don't destroy working tools(duh) but broken ones you have or your friends/family have can be broken down and scrapped. Most of the components taken from power tools can be treated as e-scrap. 

• "Leftover" materials: Bits of wood with nails in it and other leftovers from working on your projects will give you small amounts of metal. You can pull the nails or screws out as one way to retrieve them but let's get creative.  Take your wood materials(pallets, tack strips, any other miscellaneous wood) and have a bonfire. Collect the metal leftovers with a magnet the next day. A fun and tremendously easier way to deal with your wood/metal mixes.*

*Only burn wood that is clean with no paints or chemical treatments applied to it.  

• Scrap: Any other bits of wiring or rusted out and broken pieces left over from working on the car or truck or from fixing a broken outlet will create bits of near useless material. Useless doesn't mean worthless, however. All of this is "obvious" but I've said it before, the obvious stuff can be easily missed. 

This concludes the mini-series giving brief but hopefully a useful guide to scrap metal around the house.

Scrap Around the House: Living Room/Bedrooms

Scrap Around the House, part 2

Following up on looking for scrap metal in your house, we move from looking in your kitchen to the living room/bedrooms. These are combined mostly because they contain many similar kinds of items. Getting right into it.

Looking around the living room/bedrooms, we see...

• Tvs: Tvs, from old CRTs to modern flat screens, are a menagerie of metal pieces, wiring, circuit boards, plastic and glass. Taking apart broken or very old TVs can yield a few ponds each of copper, steel and e-scrap. E-scrap can be very valuable but requires a little more processing to either get the metal or sell to people online who want to process it into its constituent parts.* 

*Glass and bulbs found in the TVs can be valuable(some places buy glass and the tungsten in the bulbs) but also dangerous if you get careless. Gloves are recommended to deal with the cut hazard along with being careful as most bulbs contain mercury gas, a toxic heavy metal. 

• Decor: Clocks, statues, candle holders... The list goes on but many household decor items contains some metal. Break it down and collect the metal pieces. Simple but we often forget the obvious.

• Computers/E-waste: I've touched on it a few times, and I'll touch on it again. Computers contain small amounts of gold and lead, along a fair amount of copper wiring and boards. Other e-scrap(radios and other small electronics) will more than likely contain a good amount of copper wiring and small amounts of other metals like steel. 

As you may or may not have noticed, many of the items around your house contain metal that can be reclaimed. This generates less waste in your garbage(a huge plus if you have pay-as-you-throw trash service) AND some extra income in your pocket.  

Scrap Around the House: Kitchen

Scrap Around the House

There is a lot of scrap metal just sitting around in your house.  A few good places to look would be your kitchen, garage/workshop, and the living room/bedrooms. First we will start with just a few things you probably have around your kitchen that could make you some extra money if you start taking note of what you may have just thrown away. 

Looking around, a few things to take note of are...

• Cans: Soda cans and beer cans are frequently collected by many people. Tin cans are also another easy to collect item frequently bought and thrown away. Liberate your fruits and veggies or soda or beer from their metal can and toss it in your collection.  

*Note: Beer/soda cans are typically aluminum and "tin" cans are typically steel. Both can be scrapped but the aluminum is far more valuable. If you have to pick, pick the soda cans.

• Big and small appliances: Microwaves to fridges 6and other appliances may break down. You can't sell broken or old stuff, but you can still make a few bucks off it in scrap. Break down the cords and shells or just sell the whole item as mixed metal. I recommend scrapping only non-functioning or woefully antiquated appliances as working pieces can make you many times more than scrap value.    

*Note: Fridges, freezers and air conditioning units must have the freeon removed from them before scrapping, leagally. Some yards may ignore or overlook this but, to be safe, the fridge must have either a licenced facility remove the freeon or the copper freeon lines must be damaged/cut before being sold for scrap. Please do yourself a favor and check the lines before hauling.

• Silverware, Flatware and Utensils: Most of these items are high quality metal worth a little more than average. Some old silverware pieces may be actual silver, worth around $15-$20 an ounce or more. Most pieces have a stamp on them telling you what it is made of. 

• Pots and Pans: Mostly made of steel and cheaper alloys. Check to see what metal it is made of though, as some higher quality broken or worn out items may be worth more than the cheap-o pots and pans. As stated only scrap old, worn out, and/or broken pieces. Functional pieces are worth much more than their scrap value. 

• Aluminum foil and other metallic "thrash": Aluminum foil, aluminum cooking/baking trays, jar lids, and many other items that you would consider trash are actually worth some money if you collect them up. If it's metal, collect it and you can sell that with the rest of your mixed metal.   

This is just a short list to get you started looking around and noticing some items to scrap. Take the time to save up what you would normally toss and that "garbage" can suddenly turn into green. 

Scrapping Supplies: Basics and More

Supplies

Scrapping metal doesn't really require a lot supplies but there are a few things that will help. My recommended supplies can be found here. The amount of metal you can/will collect before selling it will vastly impact your supply needs. Always have at least a pound or more of each metal before scrapping it.

General 

Some supplies most everyone will agree are good, no matter the size of the scrap operation you run, include but not limited to:

• Info: You will make more money knowing where to look and what to collect. This seems basic but information is at premium in today's world. 

• Gloves: Sometimes collecting metal may be messy and some sharp corners and pieces can be a problem. Simple working gloves fit the bill and are cheap. Gloves are a personal preference. Wear what you like. 

• Magnet: Being able to quickly separate ferrous(iron containing) and non-ferrous metals is essential. Most ferrous metals are on the cheaper side so be prepared to collect a lot more of it to make good money. 

• Area to sort: From a few 5 gallon buckets set aside for different metals to a shed or dumpsters. Separating metals is important to get the maximum value from your metal collection.

• Scale: Weighing your metals is important to fetch the best rate. Yards pay more per pound for more metal. Knowing how much you have means you can call around and get the best rate.

• File: A file is a great little tool to have to see the true color of metals. Paints and shellac covered wiring and other metals makes it harder to see the true color. Pick one up and wonder not if that wire is copper or aluminium.

• Route or Other Collection Options: Traveling to certain places(collecting trash/scrap around the neighborhood, from local businesses or even just from friends and family*) or looking for bulk buys from Ebay or free metal on Craigslist. E-scrap is also valuable but frequently requires more initial effort to get the gold an other good metal bits. Regardless of what you do to collect scrap, creating a game plan and knowing where and what to look will help you collect scrap and make some money. 

• Vehicle: A car or van, preferably a truck, is required to load and get your metal from your house or collection to the yard. As stated previously, the more you bring the better. If you have to make fewer trips to get it all there, that saves gas too. Gas/fuel can be one of the biggest expenses you incur from collecting your scrap.

Wants- Niceties If You Have The Money 

• Trailer: A truck or van with a trailer would be great to load up and haul a lot of metal to the yard or “trash” to sort through. It would be worth it if you are serious about turning this into either a side hustle or full-time job.

• XRF Handheld: An XRF(x-ray fluorescence) handheld is really the only way a yard can determine 420 from 430 stainless steel or really any other variation, unless it is clearly stamped. This is impractical for most individuals as they start at $20,000. Yes, start at. As I have said before, a reputable yard will easily help you figure out exactly what you have with the one they have on hand. However if you can afford it, personally knowing what you have will allow you get the absolute best price for your metal.

*Always check with state and local ordinances on collecting trash. It is also HIGHLY recommended you talk to friends and neighbors and businesses before rummaging through their garbage or collecting it to find scrap. Certain businesses actually retain their ownership of their trash until it is collected for liability reasons. They are required to destroy old equipment and such due to safety regulations.