Long before it was popular several friends and I actually were earning some gas money by recycling. No, we didn’t use a mini van. We hired a horse and wagon and picked up newspapers and scrap metal in Newark, NJ and sold it at local junk yards. Without stating the date, gasoline was 25 cents a gallon.
You never know where the current recession will lead. Case in point is the following A/P article from West Virginia.
http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/ap/business/6152343.html
Following are a few paragraphs from the above link.
“Just months after riding an incredible high, the recycling market has tanked almost in lockstep with the global economic meltdown. As consumer demand for autos, appliances and new homes dropped, so did the steel and pulp mills’ demand for scrap, paper and other recyclables.
Cardboard that sold for about $135 a ton in September is now going for $35 a ton. Plastic bottles have fallen from 25 cents to 2 cents a pound. Aluminum cans dropped nearly half to about 40 cents a pound, and scrap metal tumbled from $525 a gross ton to about $100.
It’s getting more difficult to find buyers in some markets, Steenstra said.
While few across the country appear to be taking such drastic measures as Steenstra, the recycling market has gotten so bad that haulers in Oregon and Nevada who were once paid for recyclables are now getting nothing or in some cases are having to pay to unload their wares.
In Washington State, what was once a multimillion-dollar revenue source for the city of Seattle may become a liability next year as the city may have to start paying companies to take their materials.”
Juice readers. And now the questions for you.
What impact will this have on trash haulers and any recycling revenue sharing with the cities they serve?
If this trend continues will our trash collection fees increase?
For the cash I get for turning in cans and bottles, is bearly the CRV value.