Recycling DIY stuff

[ruffrecords]

I have accumulated loads of electronic bits and pieces from toriod mains transformers to PCBs to components to mechanical bits for consoles or racks. I am loathe to chuck them in the bin and most are not worth enough to make it worth while trying to sell them. I would happily give them away if only there was some for of recycling web site you could offer them on. Here in the UK we have Freegle and Freecycle both of which work well for regular domestic items - I have tried then for recycling electronics bits with very little success.

Suggestions?

Cheers

Ian

 

[Tubetec]

Ive similar issues ,
Municipal waste sites in Ireland will take  electronics items free for recycling  ,but there could be  a limit to what they will accept as domestic . As far as I know a company was set up here in the wake of the WEEE directive , they gather electric/electronic waste from the council run sites ,seperate and sort it , and container it off to far away places .
The poorer parts of the planet are fast catching onto the fact that were sending lots of garbage their way ,but as long as theres money to be made and human/environmental  impacts are kept hidden that trade will probably continue to dump on someone elses doorstep .

One thing that I do that helps when the guy inspects the load at the recycyling site is carefully seperate any metal ,ie cabinets enclosures panels from pcbs etc  that way I box up all the electronics small ,the rest goes to metal recyc.  So I strip everything down as much as possible , screws nuts bolts and fixings I generally put in jars or plastic containers , they dont take up much space ,and a Misc. Screw or fixing box to 'root' through is very handy sometimes , especially  in  repairs , where it  might have  lost some of the originals to the road .

I still have a Yamaha PM3000 given to me in 5000 pieces  ;D
, loads of good reusable metal stock and bits that can sit on a shelf neatly enough to be worth keeping , a fast screw gun and a  set of deep sockets to cope with potentiometer mounting nuts , with not much effort you can turn a mountain into a mole hill , and the issue of you turning up at the local recyc. with what looks non domestic quantities or types of  waste wont be a problem .

 

[JohnRoberts]

I am not going to search for my old posts on this subject but I have piles of old parts too... I sent some to a friend to try to sell off several years ago, but shipping and handling is not worth the trouble to sell old parts individually.

Shipping cost is the killer, these old parts are worth almost nothing to me at this point, but I do value my time.

JR 

 

[Bo Deadly]

Someone needs to organize electronics swap meets.

 

[ruffrecords]

Someone needs to organize electronics swap meets.

I am surprised these are not more common. When I was a lad and into amateur radio there were lots of them.

Edit: Maybe all is not lost. I just found that Norwich has a  Hackspace and they have swap meets. I will check them out.

Cheers

Ian

 

[JohnRoberts]

I am surprised these are not more common. When I was a lad and into amateur radio there were lots of them.

Edit: Maybe all is not lost. I just found that Norwich has a  Hackspace and they have swap meets. I will check them out.

Cheers

Ian

Any swap meet in Hickory probably involves livestock...  There is a red neck flea market type store in town, but I checked and not one single flea for sale inside.
===

A web based swap meet might make sense, but shipping cost is still the deal breaker (IMO). Reminds me I need to throw away more crap (before I croak).

Perhaps some kind of charity where we could just donate old parts in bulk, but somebody would have to provide a bunch of free labor...(not me).

JR

 

[PRR]

> toriod mains transformers to PCBs to components to mechanical bits for consoles or racks

If it can't be shifted as-is, then this is all "scrap metal".

You can sell it. Except for Copper, it is hardly worth the drive.

Scrap metal should be sorted. CLEAN Copper runs a couple bucks a pound and is very worthwhile. Clean means no iron handles on plumbing valves, no plastic on wire. Solder on otherwise clean pipes seems to be fine (Tin is very valuable).

Iron has fallen well below a buck a pound, so don't drive out of your way just for iron.

A special rate is given for motors and transformers, mixed copper and iron.

Iron is divided as clean iron (rack beams) and dirty iron (whole car, garage dregs including zinc carbs and hunks of rubber).

Aluminium has value per pound but few folks collect many pounds of Al. I have a large mower engine with iron crank and alloy block, I can hardly lift it but it is also not worth breaking apart to get the Al separate.

 

[JohnRoberts]

> toriod mains transformers to PCBs to components to mechanical bits for consoles or racks

If it can't be shifted as-is, then this is all "scrap metal".

You can sell it. Except for Copper, it is hardly worth the drive.

Scrap metal should be sorted. CLEAN Copper runs a couple bucks a pound and is very worthwhile. Clean means no iron handles on plumbing valves, no plastic on wire. Solder on otherwise clean pipes seems to be fine (Tin is very valuable).

Iron has fallen well below a buck a pound, so don't drive out of your way just for iron.

A special rate is given for motors and transformers, mixed copper and iron.

Iron is divided as clean iron (rack beams) and dirty iron (whole car, garage dregs including zinc carbs and hunks of rubber).

Aluminium has value per pound but few folks collect many pounds of Al. I have a large mower engine with iron crank and alloy block, I can hardly lift it but it is also not worth breaking apart to get the Al separate.

That reminds me I have a couple hundred pounds of custom aluminum extrusion that I need to move. Its black anodized but my junk guy was still happy to take it.

JR

 

[PRR]

Anodize is just thin rust. Any metal smelter will skim it off the pot. Not enough to take-off the price.

The only Aluminum which would be worth more is ready-to-use ingots with alloy markings. Even so, there are not many alloys used in general-purpose extrusion, so your cabinet trim is probably as valuable as it gets. Discounted heavily for your small tonnage and distance from smelters.

 

[iampoor1]

Here in the US, we have a flat rate box service through the post office (as long as it's under 70lbs). Really good for recycling...load it up with heavy parts and offer it for a few bucks over the cost of shipping (8-20$ Depending on which side you pick). I'm assuming your localLY doesn't have a service like this? Can be good for selling pesky transformer grab bags etc

Even in silicon valley, there is only 1 ham radio swap meet still going. Swap meets for electronics seem extremely rare now-a-days!

 

[madswitcher]

Hi Ian,

if you can wait until next May,  go along to the Dunstable Downs Radio Club Rally (http://www.ddrcbootsale.org/) and get yourself a stand there to sell your stuff.  There are usually lots of diverse stuff to buy as well.

I am also sure that there used to be one in Milton Keynes as well, but I can't find the details.

Cheers

Mike

 

[ruffrecords]

Hi Ian,

if you can wait until next May,  go along to the Dunstable Downs Radio Club Rally (http://www.ddrcbootsale.org/) and get yourself a stand there to sell your stuff.  There are usually lots of diverse stuff to buy as well.

I am also sure that there used to be one in Milton Keynes as well, but I can't find the details.

Cheers

Mike

Thanks for the tip. That is a fair way from me but I should look for radio amateur groups here in Norfolk.

Cheers

Ian

 

[Gregg Johns]

]Swap meets for electronics seem extremely rare now-a-days!
true and sad!!

 

[hodad]

In the US, there's always hamfests.  Usually a spot in the boneyard is $5 or $10--could be a good way to get rid of some of that excess stuff.  Search for the nearest hamfest here:

http://www.arrl.org/hamfests-and-conventions-calendar

 

[benb]

Look for a hackerspace or makerspace in your area, if they're newly formed they're sure to welcome most any donations. If they've been around a few years, they'll have plenty of junk and be more picky about what they take.
https://wiki.hackerspaces.org/List_of_Hackerspaces

In the US, there's always hamfests.  Usually a spot in the boneyard is $5 or $10--could be a good way to get rid of some of that excess stuff.  Search for the nearest hamfest here:

http://www.arrl.org/hamfests-and-conventions-calendar

That's another idea, though the Atlanta one was cancelled at the last minute (a week before) because the newly renovated event space wasn't ready (I heard something about a lack of occupancy certificate or whatever).

 

[Seeker]

You also might see if some schools are interested, a while back I gave a bunch of assorted parts to a high school robotic building club that a friends kid is in...

 

[alexc]

Recycling  of  inventory in a useful way can be a real challenge. 

My own 'diy audio builds' are definately worth more as the (original) parts than whole    I break em down and prep them for re - ebay - ing  ..., back from whence they came!

Down here (lower parts of the globe) ..  there is a growing 're-purposing' movement  ...  it's a little sad for the lack of people, but there are lots of them that have individual passion  ..  for re-cycling, re-purposing  etc.

Myself, as an observer, I like to visit the co-located 'waster depot' op-shops   

There's so much amazing stuff there, essentially 'worthless' in the usual context, but none-the-less amazing as works of engineering, science, manufacture  etc  you name it.

I'm not a buyer myself, being in a 'divesting' phase of reducing my 'load'  ...  but I marvel at the people who set up the shops, auctions, clean-ups  et al.  It reminds me of that film with junkyard robot competitions amongst the enterprising youngsters.

..

Anyway, I donated a complete Soundcraft 72chn desk  to the local 'dumpster re-purpose-ers'  ..  all the bits  ..  I hoped it would make it's way to those who might use it for some good. That and a nice old semi-acoustic git that I never played.  And ..  a sitar