PC Scrapping

[maxximilian]

Hiya gang. Yep, I'm still around.

Being a computer pack rat, I have entire closet devoted to storing old computers and assorted motherboards, cards, cables, drives, memory sticks, etc. Haven't thrown anything away in the past 15 years.

Until now....

Time to clean out the place and was wondering what you all do with extremely outdated hardware. Do you just toss it out or try to reclaim precious metals like gold and platinum? Is it worth it? Most of the stuff is so old (even though operational) that donating doesn't really apply. Especially since the full computers will have their hard drives removed since that is my personal policy regarding hard drives...they never get away from me. So the operating systems will not go either, making the machines worthless to any charities.

[photolady]

I give my old stuff to my nephew who sells it for scrap. Since motherboards and memory and graphics cards actually have gold on them, he gets a fairly good price for those. Check your area to see if you have a place that buys scrap metal. He took one load down one day and got $260 for what he had.

[SpywareDr]

Been through much the same here over the last few months. At least a dozen computers, (without the hard drives), as well as three old CRTs went into bulk trash pickup. Boxes of ancient drives, (hard, floppy, optical, tape, Zip), mounds of CDs, DVDs, floppy diskettes, Zip-disks, backup tapes, paper, etc., etc., etc. And all were shattered, shredded, smashed or smoked.

With the exception of some old original true-blue IBM stuff, if it couldn't run Windows 7, it's gone. And it feels great!

[Steve R Jones]

I found a recycler that came to my office and removed out old stuff. 10 CRT monitors and 6 computers. It was painless for me.

[maxximilian]

I've seen some websites and videos on how to DIY recover the precious metals, but seems awful messy with caustic chemicals and such. I gave up on the idea, but still want to try and get some cash for all these components. Throwing away gold just doesn't sit right with me, no matter how small. LOL

I noticed there are some online services that make a deal which basically says...send us all your stuff and we will recover the gold for you, for a percentage of the gold recovered. Not sure I want to even try such a thing, but I don't know any places near me that do this sort of thing. Scrap dealers around here are stripping and crushing cars....not little computers.

[SpywareDr]

I noticed there are some online services that make a deal which basically says...send us all your stuff and we will recover the gold for you, for a percentage of the gold recovered.

Probably cost more in shipping than it's worth wouldn't it?

[maxximilian]

Probably cost more in shipping than it's worth wouldn't it?

That's what I would think as well. Not to mention, you have to trust as to just how much gold is recovered before the split.

Oddly enough, my local trash removal service considers computers and other electronic devices to be "special" and should not be placed in with ordinary household trash. You are supposed to arrange for a special pickup for such items. My guess is that they want to be able easily recover precious metals as well....as opposed to some environmental reason.

[photolady]

This place my nephew takes his scrap, takes the scrap as whole, even the plastic fronts from the computers. He doesn't even have to strip them. Though lately he separates different types of metal from some things he gets, like air conditioners. he removes the aluminum fins, and removes the copper from that too. $2.90 a pound for copper.

[maxximilian]

There is one scrap metal dealer near me that will take base metals like bulk copper if you have already stripped it from something else. I could perhaps stop in there and see if they can steer me to a place that will take the whole components. I suppose "recycler" is the name of what I am looking for?

[maxximilian]

Oh wow.....

I was just Googling for recyclers in my area and found this news article. Turns out that in PA, it is now illegal to toss out electronics. You can get fined up to $1000.

http://pittsburgh.cbslocal.com/2012/...s-be-recycled/

OK....so pitching isn't even an option anyway. And there are many places, including Goodwill, that will take the stuff for free. No luck finding anyone that will toss me a few pennies for my trouble, though.

[photolady]

As old as you are Max, I would think by now you'd be retired. LOL jk. Do you not have the time to scrap the stuff yourself? Perhaps you can hire someone to tear every thing down for you.

I would look on craigslist or google it, for junkers. These guys might buy the stuff from you and take it off your hands.

[Train]

Check on recycling in your state. I drop old stuff at a place near here and it does not cost me a except for the gas to deliver it.
Ours looks like this.
http://www.ecy.wa.gov/programs/swfa/eproductrecycle/

[maxximilian]

Finding "free" recyclers doesn't seem to hard. Even Best Buy will take the stuff. But I am still trying to find a way to do better than break even.

[foxy]

If there's one near you, Staples, the office supply store, takes old electronics.