Recycling Scrap Metal

When asked what we definitely should NOT put in the recycling buckets, the recycling plant manager said the number one problem for his sorting machinery is metal pipes. They can lodge in the spinning wheels and jam up the works, causing a temporary shut-down of the conveyor belts.

Though steel is pulled out of the recycling stream by magnets, that happens later in the sorting process, by which time the pipes may have already caused problems.

These and other metal items not found on the standard lists of accepted recyclables have some value as scrap. Though it's possible to take metal to a scrap yard in Trenton, I tend to collect a few items and then put them out on the curb with a few days to go before any trash or recycling pickups (and not in a recycling bucket). Invariably, some guy with an old pickup truck comes along and takes them, oftentimes within an hour. It helps to live on a busy street.