Treasure from Trash?

Difficult economic times call for creative moneymaking endeavors, like recycling old newspapers and cardboard boxes in exchange for some extra cash!

But just how much cardboard does the average person have to cough up at the recycling center to see a substantial profit?

This question was posed to us at the Reference Desk last week by one of our patrons, and we were able to find an answer in a November 2008 article from the Akron-Beacon Journal. According to Bob Downing's "Price of Recyclables is Down in Dumps: Cardboard, Metals Only Haul in a Fraction of What They Did in August; Disposal Rates Might Increase":

"Recycled newspaper has plummeted from $175 a ton to about $60 a ton. A hard mix of cardboard from cereal-box paper has dropped from $80 a ton to nothing. Tin has gone from $510 a ton to $50 a ton, copper from $3.50 a pound to $1.25 a pound and aluminum from $1.03 a pound to 40 cents a pound. Platinum, which is found in vehicle catalytic converters, has shrunk from $2,000 per ounce to $826 per ounce. Stainless steel has dropped from $1.70 a pound to 20 cents a pound, if it's delivered to Pittsburgh."

Sadly, it seems as though even recycling centers are feeling the force of the economy's hard blows, at least for the time being. But if you have a few tons (!) of newspaper or tin on hand and would like to make it a profit on them, feel free to call your local Waste Management District at (330) 874-2258 or visit the Stark-Tuscarawas-Wayne Joint Solid Waste Management District website.

Good luck!