If you have a scrap yard in your area, you might be tempted to take some older items from your house to the scrap yard. You probably just want to get rid of these items and get them out of your way. But there are some things that you should simply never take to a scrap yard and there are a number of reasons why this is the case. Here is a short list of some of those items to help you differentiate what should go to the scrap yard and what should be disposed of in another way.
Items you should NOT take to a scrap yard.
-Air conditioners
If you have an old window air conditioner that simply does not work anymore, you might just want to get it out of your sight. Taking it to the scrap yard seems logical, but there are several reasons why this is not a good idea. First, air conditioners are big, heavy items that are filled with a number of scrap metal items that can make you some money. The air conditioners have lots of copper and aluminum in them and scrap metal dealers will pay good money for these items. The Freon that is within the air conditioner should also never end up in the scrap yard. Freon is made in a lab and it is very destructive to the ozone. You will want to discard Freon in the proper containers and in the proper location. Once you strip the air conditioner of its good metal pieces and all of the Freon, you can then take the remaining portions of it to the scrap yard.
-Refrigerators with food
If you are cleaning out a lot of your house, you do not want to get banned from the scrap yard for any reason. If you take something like a fridge to the scrap yard and you are cheating on the weight by adding food to it, you might not be able to go back. Plus, the food will rot and smell and that is not a very nice thing to leave for those who work or visit the scrap yard.
-Radioactive items
You likely know that you should not take anything radioactive to the scrap yard, but what you do not know is that some metals might be tainted with the stuff. There are plenty of scrap yards that do not screen metal for radioactivity, but others do. If you have any sort of radiological detector yourself, make sure the metal you bring to the scrap yard is not tainted before you arrive.
-Gas Tanks
Gas tanks have to be empty before they can be disposed of in the scrap yard. The best way to ensure that they are empty is by creating a large hold in the bottom.
