Anyone recycle steel for money? What kind of steel do you collect, how do you collect it, and where to do you take it? Is there a reasonable amount one can earn from such collecting?

I do this periodically and I have friends who do it for a living!
I will tell you what I know about recycling : If you put a magnet on it, and if it sticks, you won't make much money per pound. 2. Brass gets a fair amount of money. 3. aluminum gets a good amount of $. 4. copper gets a lot of money! 5. You can get a lot of things from air conditioners, some from frigerators, some from some dishwashers, some from washers and dryers, stoves, automobiles. There is a lot of various kinds of metal and iron out there. It takes quite a bit of anything to get much money.

That is great info, Tweetymom. I am going to have to take a good look into all of these categories. There is a lot of junk and junk machines around here. This could become a fun hobby.

doing it for a living sounds like a LOT of work.

Why is copper so expensive now? Pennies are still rather worthless.

I forgot to say, that the prices per pound go up and down all the time. I also forgot to mention gold, silver, and various precious metals!

In this past year, the prices went down so low, my friends said it's not even worth making a trip to the place.

I have "yard sales" several times a year, and sometimes I take brass and sell it for recycling because I can get more for it that way. Brass lamps, brass handles, etc.

I guess you'd have "steal" copper to get it!! (NOT me).
One time one of my landlords tenants took the air conditioner apart and sold it. We couldn't believe it!! lol It was a $900 air conditioner! My boss was PISSED.

There's copper wire in electrical cords. So I cut the cord off if I decide to throw something electrical in the trash.

I don't know why one thing over the other would be more money. Well, I guess just like the price of gold and silver go up and down.
My "junking" friends say it IS hard work, but on a good week, they can make $1500.00. They go around and haul off things for people, and those people save things like aluminum, and etc. for them.

What they do is, they call all the recycling places in the phone book, and ask for the current prices on different metals.

They also drive around and look for "Big Trash Days" neighborhoods. Lets see... aluminum chair frames, There are lots of things with aluminum in/on them.

Also, look on Craigs List for the freebees section. You could take a morning and drive around and take your laptop with you (if you have one), because things go fast!

This is all such excellent advice. Maybe I am looking at my new career, or at least a nice part time income.

Not the stealing part, though.

One of my best friends had her house broken into and someone took all the copper plumbing and tore out all the ducts. What a miserable thing to do to someone.

I wonder if all the landfills have been all picked over for metals? Do they even let people in them anymore?

Wow that is really amazing that someone would break into a house to steal the PIPES.

I definitely like the craigslist idea - just watch the FREE pile and see what there is!

I just found a little brass box i have that i added to my brass pile.

It occurs to me I can also look for used shell casings (brass) all around areas where people go shooting for target practice. It's a very common occurrence out here in the western states. These shells are everywhere in the national forests and BLM lands.

This website recommends:
sell brass and copper




More fun hunting for recyclables!

Good idea Jilly. I would have never thought of that!