Your Questions About Recycling
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Filed under Recycling Q & A
Nancy asks…
What happens if Aluminum Can prices go too high?
Ok, lets say this. What if scrap yards all over town pays you $5 per pound on Aluminum Cans during Recycling pick up day just for 1 day. the town law says taking them from bins is illegal and fines are very low.
Is there going cause problems in traffic and lines?
Is there going be 100’s of people be out in the early morning and breaking in recycle bins taking aluminum cans and/or finding them from streets?
Is there going be a law change and say fines be very high or arrested just for that day because of scrap yards prices
Is there going be a total Chaos?
What will happened?
The Expert answers:
A similar situation is already happening in many cases. Around where I live, there’s a problem with people digging into recycling bins and taking the cans. Sometimes they are neat about it, more often they leave a mess. The recycling companies count on the income from the recycling in order to offer curbside pickup. There is also a problem with people stealing aluminum and copper, especially from construction sites.
There won’t be total chaos, and we do already have laws in place against stealing. We also have laws in place that require scrapyards to get ID from people who are selling large lots of metal, in case that metal was stolen.
David asks…
Recycling metals?
where can i find current metal stocks to see what i can get at recycling plants. i live in west virginia
The Expert answers:
Spot metal prices (current price on the open market) and the price you can get at your local recycling center are HUGELY different. Check your local scrap yard and/or recycling center for the price they are offering. If you have large amounts of metal (tons) you might be able to get a contract with a primary metal producer who consumes scrap–assumes you have a business/business license. Spot metal prices can be gotten at the web addresses below (among others).
Laura asks…
Where can I recycle cans in Oregon?
I am an Idaho resident, and I am making a trip up north. I am going to bring the aluminum cans that I have collected with me because I know I can get more money in Oregon or Washington. Where in Oregon or Washington that is close to the Idaho border can I get the 5 cents per can price?
Do the cans have to be uncrushed or crushed for the one at a time thing?
In washington are there the things in stores but they have to be crushed?
The Expert answers:
Not in WA unless they are already crushed. In Oregon I usually go to Safeway. They can’t be crushed there. There are 18 clean 12 oz. Cans per pound of aluminum. If aluminum prices are above 90c/pound you would do better recycling them for scrap than for 5c.
Paul asks…
Why don’t recycling machines accept some bottles?
Environment/Recycling
The Expert answers:
The price of used aluminum is high enough that certain individuals have recycling machines set out for environmentally conscience but naive people to place this valuable resource so that they can turn around and make $$$ from the recycles. Take your cans to a local center as a donation so that your bottles and plastic and papers (recycling them are either borderline profitable or recycled at a loss) can also be recycled.
James asks…
how much does recycling pay for glass in canada?
i need to know how much you can get in canada for recycling??
The Expert answers:
Glass is collected and sold by the ton. Price depends on the color, the type of glass and sizing. Clear container glass which has been sized (crushed) into small chunks can bring about 60 CND per ton. Mixed color scrap glass can bring as little as 2 CND per ton.
If you’re not planning to recycle these large quantities of glass and just want to send your glass on to a better place, check your local phone directory under recycling.
Robert asks…
10 bags of pop cans price?
i have 10 regular size trashbags full of pop cans (Uncrushed). can i get around $15-$20 for them?
The Expert answers:
As we do not know what size you consider “regular”, this is a hard question to answer. Nor do we know what size cans you mean, could be the Coke mini-s, or the 24 oz cans, but for the sake of a discussion, lets use the medium size lawn bag. It holds about 300 cans, which are about 8-9 pounds of scrap aluminium, and you have 10 bags, so lets say 85 pounds total.
In my area, aluminium is 40 cents a pound, so your looking at $34.00.
Let me brighten your day a little though.
Pull the tabs off the cans, those 3,000 tabs are worth another $12 on E-Bay to people who use them for arts and crafts (considerably more if you drink energy drinks, or Monster), while only lowering your recycle value by $1
Lizzie asks…
How much money are aluminum cans worth?
and other plastic bottles? if i start recycling all of the diet soda cans and gatorade bottles that my family goes through a day.. could i make a decent amount of money?
oh, and are they bought by the pound or per can? say.. 5 cents a can? thanks!
The Expert answers:
I don’t know how they are bought, but prices vary depending on state. It says on the can how much you will get for it. There was an episode of Seinfeld where Kramer an Newman collected thousands of cans and tried to bring them to the next state to get more money, but wasted the extra profits in gas just to get there. If it says “non-redeemable” on the can, then you’re probably in a state that doesn’t let you sell them.
Charles asks…
How do you know if the price of copper is up or down?
Is there a web site that you can go to that will tell if the price of copper is up or down, or even give projections or old prices etc.?
The Expert answers:
For current and historical scrap metal prices go to Demolition, Scrap Metal and Salvage News
The website provides Free Current US Scrap Metal Prices as well as discusses the current U.S. Scrap metal prices, copper prices, scrap metal recycling, demolition business and projects, current scrap metal prices, scrap metal market, wrecking and building demolition projects, benefits of concrete crushing, equipment salvage tips, and demolition safety.
Mary asks…
When You collect cans,where do you turn them in after??
And how mcuh would they give for eack can??
The Expert answers:
We take them to the scrap yard (or metal recycling center) beer and soda cans in our area (PA) go for 65 cents a pound currently. Scrap prices change all the time.
PS – its better to crush your cans, it takes a lot of cans to get the money.
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