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As a broken-stuff enthusiast in California, I have never seen an e-waste place would let you just go through their bins and take stuff home. Where do you go?

andrewstuart 5y ago
You have to take some electronic stuff to drop off - that's the key - where I live you can find e-waste outside the front of people houses waiting for the council to come get it. Pick it up and put it in your car boot to take to the e-waste facility. I go to the e-waste facility and just open the boot of the car and drop off the ewaste I bought and if there's something interesting I put it in the boot. Give and take. There's no-one watching - I guess that depends on the e-waste facility, but I've never seen anyone watching. No doubt if the workers there saw you doing it they would object because that's not the purpose of the e-waste facility. I don't feel like it's stealing or doing anything wrong because the stuff in there is destined to be crushed. Maybe try a range of different e-waste dropoff points till you find one that works. The one I go to (in Australia) - last time I went it had four giant bins stacked full of stuff. Frustratingly the e-waste was closed because it was so full so I couldn't pick through it. I could see it was full of computers and stuff.
Symbiote 5y ago
It's official in Copenhagen (possibly more of Denmark), although it will have been unofficial for much longer. > Residents of Copenhagen can recycle their waste at a recycling station or a collection point. A collection point is smaller, only accepts certain types of recyclable waste and is accessible by foot only. Both types are staffed and most have a “swap stand” where you can donate or collect items which are still usable. [1] In addition, most apartment blocks have a small e-waste bin. That's big enough for something like a computer screen or laptop; larger things should be taken to the recycling station. I fished a MacBook Air out of my block's bin, and sold it online for €150 or so. I kept a Kindle I repaired, and gave an old iPad to a friend. This was a couple of years ago, I think there's either now someone else looking in the bin for good stuff, or a wasteful neighbour has moved away. (A typical apartment block has bins for cardboard, paper, metal, mixed plastic, electronics, batteries, glass, hazardous waste, food (for compost) and non-recyclable waste.) [1] https://international.kk.dk/live/housing/settling-into-your-new-home/recycling-in-copenhagen https://international.kk.dk/live/housing/settling-into-your-...

andrewstuart 5y ago

You have to take some electronic stuff to drop off - that's the key - where I live you can find e-waste outside the front of people houses waiting for the council to come get it. Pick it up and put it in your car boot to take to the e-waste facility. I go to the e-waste facility and just open the boot of the car and drop off the ewaste I bought and if there's something interesting I put it in the boot. Give and take. There's no-one watching - I guess that depends on the e-waste facility, but I've never seen anyone watching. No doubt if the workers there saw you doing it they would object because that's not the purpose of the e-waste facility. I don't feel like it's stealing or doing anything wrong because the stuff in there is destined to be crushed. Maybe try a range of different e-waste dropoff points till you find one that works. The one I go to (in Australia) - last time I went it had four giant bins stacked full of stuff. Frustratingly the e-waste was closed because it was so full so I couldn't pick through it. I could see it was full of computers and stuff.

Symbiote 5y ago

It's official in Copenhagen (possibly more of Denmark), although it will have been unofficial for much longer. > Residents of Copenhagen can recycle their waste at a recycling station or a collection point. A collection point is smaller, only accepts certain types of recyclable waste and is accessible by foot only. Both types are staffed and most have a “swap stand” where you can donate or collect items which are still usable. [1] In addition, most apartment blocks have a small e-waste bin. That's big enough for something like a computer screen or laptop; larger things should be taken to the recycling station. I fished a MacBook Air out of my block's bin, and sold it online for €150 or so. I kept a Kindle I repaired, and gave an old iPad to a friend. This was a couple of years ago, I think there's either now someone else looking in the bin for good stuff, or a wasteful neighbour has moved away. (A typical apartment block has bins for cardboard, paper, metal, mixed plastic, electronics, batteries, glass, hazardous waste, food (for compost) and non-recyclable waste.) [1] https://international.kk.dk/live/housing/settling-into-your-new-home/recycling-in-copenhagen https://international.kk.dk/live/housing/settling-into-your-...