What's the situation with E-Waste in your country? Can you 'pick up for repair'? - Page 1
Forum section: electronics / general

author: SolderSucker
author_rank: Regular Contributor
timestamp: December 21, 2023, 07:46:25 pm
content: In my country (UK) there doesn't appear to be any 'official' way to get hold of E-Waste from the recycling/waste centresfor personal use(either that's in working condition or for repair and perhaps even to sell it on once repaired).What's the situation in your country?Do the local recycling depots allow people to go through their piles of E-Waste and take (or buy) whatever they like (if it's only a few items)?Or do they go one step further and have it all laid out so that people can browse what's available and take (or buy) a few items?

author: u666sa
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: December 21, 2023, 08:06:03 pm
content: People usually throw out CRT televisions, that's like 90% of time. You have to visit dumps often to get anything. Because dudes actually scope them, they are a nice source for quality caps, better stuff you can buy from China. I was also able to scavenge LED square office light, got a bunch of LEDs for myself and two power supplies. All free, if you can get to dumpster quickly enough.

author: Roehrenonkel
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: December 21, 2023, 10:13:47 pm
content: Hi SolderSucker,here in germany it's real bad.You are not allowed to take anythingand if you bring to much they even charge you!Waste (and especially e-waste) is a big business.All that "recycle"-talk is just green blah-blah.Best regards

author: Bud
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: December 21, 2023, 10:45:01 pm
content: Here i do not need to visit a dumpster. People put stuff out by the curb by the garbage day and you can take what you want. In fact i am trying Not to take stuff anymore, as enough was hoarded already

author: xrunner
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: December 21, 2023, 10:59:58 pm
content: Quote from: Bud on December 21, 2023, 10:45:01 pmMy city has a drop-off for e-waste but I haven't used it in a while. I just put it out by the street here in the 'hood. There are people who collect metal, and if they think it has metal in it they will pick it up. I dunno why some of the other e-waste I put out is picked up, and I don't care as long as it's gone.

author: retiredfeline
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: December 21, 2023, 11:19:59 pm
content: I'm pretty sure waste collection centres here don't allow hobbyists to go pick what they like because it would be disruptive to their operations, would only cover a tiny fraction of their waste stream, and there are OH&S and liability issues letting random people onto their premises.From a recycling point of view it would be better to encourage people to take stuff to community repair centres in the first place, but these only exist in certain cities.If you are after stuff, just cruise the streets on the night before collection. Even that is frowned on by councils because some collectors make a mess extracting what they want so you have to do this stealthily. For a long time I used to see CRTs on televisions and monitors smashed to detach the yoke which contains a lot of copper.

author: tom66
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: December 22, 2023, 12:12:03 am
content: I used to put up ads on Gumtree offering to buy faulty TVs (as I knew a lot about repairing them during my student years.) I asked at the local tip, but mostly the answer was no. One guy took £20 and looked the other way when I spotted a rare Panasonic plasma (with a well known fault), but I never saw him after that, so make of that what you will.I haven't done repair in any serious sense for at least 5 years now, it just isn't worth my time. Good way to learn troubleshooting and system design for sure though.

author: eliocor
author_rank: Unknown
timestamp: December 22, 2023, 12:12:53 am
content: Here in NE Italy (at least in my town) is forbidden to take anything from the e-waste center....

author: thm_w
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: December 22, 2023, 01:11:38 am
content: Not allowed here for public recycling (Canada). For private recycling depots you can just go in and ask and they will let you walk around and buy whatever you want. But its mostly metal yards here not electronics, maybe if you're lucky you'll see some motors.Quote from: retiredfeline on December 21, 2023, 11:19:59 pmYes main thing is liability issues. Though it would be nice if you could sign a waiver, and donate some money, but at that point its too much work for them.Quote from: Roehrenonkel on December 21, 2023, 10:13:47 pmYou should see the stuff this guy gets a hold of, but I assume he visits a private scrapyard:

author: Andy Chee
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: December 22, 2023, 01:25:20 am
content: Apart from the central waste collection depots, our major office supply retailer Officeworks (Office Depot in the USA, maybe Staples in the UK?) contains e-waste bins at the store entrance. Strictly no dumpster diving, but I try to have a quick rummage around while no-one is looking.

author: Njk
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: December 22, 2023, 04:42:24 am
content: Quote from: retiredfeline on December 21, 2023, 11:19:59 pmThat's for sure. Seen that. Back in seventies, here was a goverment-running trade-in scheme for consumer equipment. You could give up your old TV and get a discount certificate to buy a new one. The location of the processing facility was known to every local boy. In my town, it was a fenced field in the outskirt. A truck loads of old TVs were dumped there forming a large hill. Periodically, a caterpillar tractor was driven over the hill with the two purposes. To reduce the height of the hill so more TVs can be dumped there, and to prevent someone from getting something from the heap to sell it for money (an entrepreneurship was a crime). I was a schoolboy at the time and frequently sourced an electronic components from that place. We kept track of the heap status. The territory was lightly guarded and there was a big dog. But the dog was more hungry than evil, so we usually brought some raw meat with bones. While one boy was distracting the dog with food, the other could jump over the barber wire fence and start collecting the components. That very was funny.

author: EPAIII
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: December 22, 2023, 04:59:10 am
content: Here in Beaumont, TX we have several Goodwill centers that accept used electronics. They actually have someone who checks them out - I don't know if that person does any repairs or not. But they do resell the working ones. I have taken a number of items there and have even purchased an item or two.Goodwill is not a government owned thing. I think it is a private company and I believe they do operate for profit. But they are a source of inexpensive items for those who can't afford full price. When you get your merchandise for free, you don't need to charge a lot to make a small profit. And it is nice to see things actually being recycled instead of just increasing the height of those hills in the land fills.And we have a separate trash pick-up on the same day that the garbage is picked up. Items are just placed at the side of the street and a truck with a claw arm picks everything up. I have heard that the workers on that truck often grab things of value. Again, it is nice to see some of the waste being recycled.

author: abeyer
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: December 22, 2023, 06:33:47 am
content: WA, USA: locally we outsource a lot of ewaste handling to commercial companies -- some of which run full on retail stores reselling stuff that still works or is repairable. They're somewhat dangerous, as it's easy to go drop off a bit of junk, and come home with a box full of more junk!

author: wilfred
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: December 22, 2023, 07:07:23 am
content: Quote from: Bud on December 21, 2023, 10:45:01 pmAmen to that. Here in Australia I go shopping atLa Strada(the roadside) but I have to pass by sometimes because people throw out too much stuff. My microwave failed after 12 years a few months ago whilst heating breakfast. By 11am I had gone 400m down the road and found another one brought it back home and it is working perfectly fine today. Best part is it was identical so I didn't even need to print and laminate another cheat sheet for rarely used functions.Not e-waste but a year ago I was heading out to buy a trolley jack, I got 4 houses down the street and picked up a better one than I ever would've bought. I just needed to find a circlip to secure one of the castor wheels from falling out if you picked it up.I've got in the last two weeks a pair of Hoover vacuum cleaners that had the full light on. They weren't old or worn out and a clean of the filters was all that was needed.These are barely even repairs. And aside from looking for a microwave for a spare HV diode I wasn't even looking for stuff. It was between home and the local shops.

author: AVGresponding
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: December 22, 2023, 09:24:53 am
content: Quote from: retiredfeline on December 21, 2023, 11:19:59 pmPartly this ^, and also because the waste collection site will (or at least should) have a contract/contracts with organisation/s that process whole items for reuse.https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/waste-electrical-and-electronic-equipment-weee-collection-code-of-practice/collection-of-waste-electrical-and-electronic-equipment-weee-from-designated-collection-facilities-dcfs-code-of-practice#contents

author: mendip_discovery
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: December 22, 2023, 10:24:07 am
content: Our local recycling centres to me used to keep stuff to the side for people they knew. Oddly most of the staff were from a known community where living near the edge of the law is the norm. The issue I had was that the stuff would often appear at the next carboot sale, I got caught out a few times myself.There have been a few shows on TV that have used stuff from the recycling centres but with strong wording they got permission first. They restore it and sell it for a profit. They always end up making profit even though it was lucky they got some random material that would normally cost a silly amount.These days there are plenty of CCTV around to prevent the staff taking bribes etc. But I haven't seen much that has tempted me for years, as most of the scrap ends up on ebay.

author: CJay
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: December 22, 2023, 06:16:07 pm
content: What you're looking for, I think, is a 'licence to extract', your local authority should be able to at least acknowledge the existence of such a thing but it's entirely possible that they won't issue one as the local refuse facility is run by a private company and/or they already have contracts in place.The operators of the site are not likely to be happy to allow you to rummage through as well because elfin safety (not unreasonable at my local one, they have great big open topped contaners and falling into one of those or having a pile of crap fall onto you would not be good for your health).It does hurt though, seeing all the 'stuff' thrown away, so much of it either easily repairable or not even faulty, just replaced because fashion or 'too old'.

author: cburgess
author_rank: Contributor
timestamp: December 22, 2023, 08:50:25 pm
content: Another option might be freecycle.orgI've sometimes seen people post "wanted" for this kind of stuff. It's a win-win - effectively intercepting items before they get to the tip.Years ago I got hold of a decent guitar amp that the owner was throwing out because it needed a couple of scratchy pots replacing.A useful way of keeping things out of landfill.

author: johansen
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: December 22, 2023, 09:21:01 pm
content: I found a friend 's. Brother's. and his moms laptop at the dump.They have never really looked at me the same since i asked them for the password so i could use the windows operating system.My guess is most places wont let you take stuff for fear of identity theft.

author: Andy Chee
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: December 22, 2023, 09:47:15 pm
content: Quote from: johansen on December 22, 2023, 09:21:01 pmI can see how that could be awkward! Sometimes the windows licence key sticker is located underneath the removable battery, so that should allow a fresh format and install of windows (either from DVD media, or a special reserved partition on the hard drive).QuoteCorrect. I've retrieved portable HDDs and laptops with scanned images of their passports, driver's licence, and credit cards.... not to mention pr0n and other highly personal images and documents.

author: Njk
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: December 22, 2023, 10:11:54 pm
content: Quote from: EPAIII on December 22, 2023, 04:59:10 amIt was not a big problem back at that time. The factories were not interested in production, so all the goods usually were in short supply. Not a big pleasure for Joe Consumer but on the other hand, if you were a frog, you likely would be interested in keeping those stupid greedy monkey descendants busy with thinking how to destroy each other. Because otherwise they will unite and start thinking how to destroy your swamp.

author: SiliconWizard
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: December 22, 2023, 10:23:09 pm
content: Quote from: Roehrenonkel on December 21, 2023, 10:13:47 pmYes, same here. They usually disallow taking anything for alleged security reasons (most of the time). That's something we used to be able to do like 20 years ago, not anymore at all.Another reason, probably more real is that anything people take is less material they can make money off with recycling, so it's effectively as though they were losing money if you take anything. (Even if not much per item.)Quote from: Roehrenonkel on December 21, 2023, 10:13:47 pmOf course it is. Everything is a big business now anyway.

author: magic
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: December 23, 2023, 10:47:36 am
content: Quote from: johansen on December 22, 2023, 09:21:01 pmThere is a million ways to reset Windows password if the disk isn't encrypted.As for data leaks being a problem, sure, but it's only an issue with computers, phones and such.Locally, there is an electronics recycling business which regularly sells the useful stuff they receive on online auctions. Sometimes working, sometimes with cosmetic damage, sometimes in need of repair or for parts. I presume less valuable junk is dismantled. There is a scrap yard which has full containers of cables and trasformers and sometimes some other e-waste, but that's genuine waste - I have never been tempted to buy anything from them

author: G0HZU
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: December 23, 2023, 11:04:16 am
content: Quote from: SolderSucker on December 21, 2023, 07:46:25 pmHere in the UK things are changing in this respect. Apparently my local recycling centre is closing for renovation next month and when it reopens it will have a 'shop' where useful stuff (that was disposed of by someone) can be purchased by the public.Obviously, this isn't the same as dumpster diving but at least there is a way to buy stuff.I'm not sure how well this system will work in practice. I suspect it may only operate for a while before they close the shop. It's a nice concept, but I suspect it could cause too many problems for the recycling centre.

author: JPortici
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: December 23, 2023, 11:39:51 am
content: Quote from: eliocor on December 22, 2023, 12:12:53 amI'm not sure if it's the law or just waste disposal rules, but i confirm that once it's in the bin you can't take it out99.9999% of the time it's trash though, back then when it was permitted to take shit back i used to score interesting stuff (mostly old computers when i was into retrocomputing) but i'm talking about 10-15 years ago.For anything that could possibly be worth something you have to go to flea markets these daysAlso, as with our friends in germany, if you bring too much trash you also get to pay extra taxes for that year.Which kind of makes sense, the idea is to produce as little trash as possible and recycle whatever you can.Also, since a few years ago when you change any appliance the store can/must (depending on type) take the old one and dispose of it free of charge. Finally this is also happening for furniture.

author: Zero999
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: December 23, 2023, 11:50:30 am
content: Quote from: G0HZU on December 23, 2023, 11:04:16 amMany waste contractors already sell items which still work or can be easily, even if they don't have an on site shop.Another issue for many items is data protection. Criminals could steal personal information stored on devices to commit fraud.

author: jonovid
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: December 23, 2023, 12:54:11 pm
content: Quoteif your looking for it, your get it. no problem

author: Stray Electron
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: December 23, 2023, 03:06:27 pm
content: I've lived all over the US and in several places in Canada and I've never found any place that would let you pick through any kind of government owned dump (US, state, city, military base, etc). However there are private companies all over the place that buy up "scrap" from large manufacturers and sometime even from government facilities and recycle it. Often their idea of recycling is to crush it and sell it for mixed scrap but some of them will tear it down and separate the materials and sell the different metals separately. They are particularly looking for gold scrap and other valuable metals. A few of those place will attempt to sell machinery and TE in surplus stores or online on places like Lab-X and E-Greed. If you look at the listings on E-Greed, you can spot the many sellers that obviously don't know what they're selling or what it's worth or how to tell if it's working. All of that said, in the years before the rise of E-Greed I used to ask around and find out who the local recyclers were and then go visit them and ask if I could pick through their stuff and if they would sell to me. Most get just pennies per pound for most of the materials so many of them were very happy to sell to me at anywhere from $1 to $10 per pound. And there was no labor involved for them! I bought a LOT of TE that way! I still have racks full of TE that I bought over 15 years ago that I've never touched.One of the finds that particularly remember was a recycler in Melbourne, Florida. The find time I went in there, I found an HP-9816 (aka HP 9000 series 216) computer sitting on a workbench and already starting to be torn down. I bought it on the spot for $5 even thought it was missing the top cover. It turns out that it worked and had one of the HP BASIC ROM boards in it. Even with no top cover, I carried it around with me for years and used it to test HP-IB drives and devices.https://deskthority.net/wiki/HP_9816Look for the recyclers in your area, not the dumps.

author: YurkshireLad
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: December 23, 2023, 03:25:20 pm
content: My local BestBuy accepts electronic waste in the entrance to the store. I suppose someone could ask if they could take it to repair/recover if they asked I don't see why they would say no. There hasn't been much recently, but months ago the entrance was stuffed full of electronics.

author: zaphar
author_rank: Newbie
timestamp: December 23, 2023, 10:57:13 pm
content: In the area I'm in, you pretty much have to find out word-of-mouth that someone wants to dispose of something and intercept it. Otherwise it gets dropped off at an ewaste collection day event and put into a truck to be sent somewhere. The people who run that automatically assume you're looking for old storage devices and data. I've actually found a lot of stuff just thrown into the regular dumpster because people are too lazy to drop things off for ewaste collection.There's also a privately owned scrap yard that takes ewaste and I do think they will resell what they collect by weight.