I work in electrical construction. As such, every workday, I'm handling copper, which is truly a beautiful element. The article is correct about copper being the valuable metal for scrappers. We're allowed to take the small scraps of copper, but the bigger scraps are taken by the company. Still, it's very lucrative for us. One of my coworkers paid for an international trip entirely off of scrap copper. Another claims he hasn't spent any of his money on gas for his car in months because he's fueled up with money from scrap copper. And I'm planning on having enough scrap money at the end of the year to pay my property taxes (admittedly, this might not be as impressive as my property taxes are lower than your average New Yorker or New Jerseyite.)
5
What are scrappers like Paisley doing with the detritus of their work? Refrigerant from air conditioners and refrigerators, lubricants from various mechanical contraptions. I wish them all well, and hope they're recycling and disposing responsibly.
11
As part of my hauling business, I frequently use scrap yards. Scrap steel and aluminum prices are very low right now. Trump's tariff war with China is largely responsible for this. This war, which he said would be easy, is hurting thousands of Paisleys.
China was the largest buyer of U.S. scrap. They retaliated by raising tariffs on our scrap, thus lowering the volume that their companies bought from us. Much of the now devalued household metals are going into landfills and incinerators because it doesn't pay to separate them from single-stream recycling.
Trump's loose- cannon-on-deck approach to trade makes the large consumers of metals nervous to the point of hesitating to make significant, long term purchases. The President needs to
stop, think , and listen to more than one economist before he takes these abrupt measures that hurt Americans.
7
@Hugh Tague - "The President needs to stop, think , and listen to more than one economist before he takes these abrupt measures that hurt Americans."
I totally agree with what President Trump needs to do, I believe it's beyond his capabilities.
6
I'm very impressed with how Mr, Paisley "remade" his life after prison, and his serious attitude towards fatherhood. But...he doesn't believe in voting? I hope he'll rethink that for the sake of his son's future. Some politicians believe in protecting the environment, and some don't. I hope he gets his acreage, and I hope he makes sure the family has health insurance. Illness without it is a thief of independence.
11
Adrian Paisley, model citizen!
10
Over forty years ago, I had an idea for using up the the pieces of soap bars that were too small to wash with. I put them in the leg of a ruined pair of pantyhose and made a scrubber. (The rest of the pantyhose are great for tying tomato plants to stakes.) It was nice to see that other people had the same idea for their soap.
As the child of a couple who lived through the Great Depression and grandchild of their parents, as well as being from a Mennonite family, I learned the meaning of, "Use it up, wear it out, make it do or do without." A very good way to live!
I commend the scrappers for their commitment to Mother Earth and thank the author for a fascinating article.
Several commenters have mentioned plastic items and I have a question for them. I dislike single-use plastic bags but we reuse them as liners for our small trash cans. We then throw them out. Our trash is picked up by a local hauler and trucked two miles down the road to the county incinerator, where it is burned to generate electricity. Is this responsible or not?
7
Recycling is great as long as it does not devolve into theft. Not all scavengers are as principled as Mr. Paisley; copper theft is a huge problem in this country. I hope Mr. Paisley uses his principled beliefs to vote in elections, that will ultimately determine laws about how we treat our planet.
I shuddered when I read about hacking open old transformers, which are filled with PCB-containing oils (which were outlawed 40 years ago.) PCBs are highly-regulated hazardous wastes with many different toxic health effects. They can travel in the environment, pollute water, and even accumulate in leafy plants, such as in gardens. We have spent billions of dollars trying to clean up PCBs.
12
Our Church run Thrift shop gets lots of precious metal donations, but silver plate utensils, brass ash trays and copper vases that require polishing never sell. We now box them up and sell them to a recycling company and make more money than we would get trying to sell them in our shop.
9
An interesting, informative article.
Like the Levins, my family has been in the recycling business for over 100 years. The author, Mr. Halpern, uses the terms garbage or refuse and scrap somewhat interchangeably. They are not interchangeable. Scrap (depending on prevailing markets) has a value, and it’s utilization saves natural resources. Refuse has a negative value, and natural resources (energy, and in most cases, land) are expended to dispose of it. Important differences for mankind.
12
@Bill Padnos Yes, you are correct- Scrap is not waste!
3
Great article, thanks and well done to Paisley and Halpern. Junkyard Planet, the book Halpern mentions, is a revelation. If you like this piece, that book should be your next read.
7
Just wondering if Mr.Paisley recycles the air conditioners and refrigerators responsibly or just cuts the copper tubing and lets all those harmful chemicals release to the atmosphere.
Depending on the age of the appliances, they contain Freon and fluorocarbons which damage the atmosphere of "the only one you get"
11
Very nice writing, compassionate and compact, and makes what might be a dull subject seem pretty fascinating.
Thanks Mr Halpern!
3
In my neighborhood, I noticed that a lot of metal and other useful items put out on side streets for the trash wasn't getting scavenged. Living on a busy street, I've taken to picking up stuff on side streets and putting it on our curb where it gets much more exposure. I'll wait until the day before trash pickup, and if items I've noticed in the neighborhood have not yet been scavenged, I'll pick them up and hold them until trash day is past, then put them out for reuse or recycling. It's rare for anything to linger for more than a day before someone picks it up. I've probably saved several tons of metal, furniture, etc. from the landfill by now.
9
Nice article about a guy with a passion who has found a way to monetize that passion. Or maybe it was the other way around. But a very valuable piece was missing: what is the general public supposed to do about getting rid of metal things? Did I miss something here? It's nice that Paisley is doing all this great work and making a living from it, but what does he recommend that the rest of us do? Without that info, this was just a nice profile on an interesting guy.
4
I keep wondering when they will start on the true motherlodes - the 'sanitary' landfills from the start of the disposable era - mine those early to mid 20th century dumps. Imagine the treasure they tossed out as 'worthless'...
4
Using scarce copper in cigarette lighters and coffins strikes me as highly irresponsible.
7
Wonderful writing on an important topic. Wish more people would adopt Mr. Paisley's mindset and at least stop ordering those meal plans that are heavily packaged and stop ordering items through Amazon. I do my best to reduce my use of packaged foods and buy items locally, not through amazon. Trying to reduce the household trash to less than the current size of one grocery bag size. Do not eat out except when traveling.
4
I love what Paisley's doing...God bless him and his family! Thank you for the article...heart warming. I tell the young people that come to work for me to vote with their dollars...boycott non-sustainable packaging, buy loose vegetables, don't buy take-out foods, in fact, don't eat out at all. Only buy organic everything, but nothing pre-packaged. Recycle, re-use, reduce.
3
With his bar of soap and sock with a whole in it example, Paisley's also underscores our need to first reduce, then reuse, and finally, recycle. Maybe, as a husband and wife team, he and his wife could offer an online apprenticeship course, which the rest of us could help support as a way of reducing our own carbon footprint.
8
Great story and I love Paisley!
9
It seems to me that we need to look more deeply --> Given that "The U.S. produces more garbage than any other nation in the world per capita" -- what can we as individuals and a culture do to look at and determine why is this so? What are we doing -- or not doing? -- that creates this situation? And how and what can we do to change? ...sooner rather than later...
5
Great article. This man’s vision is one that everyone in America and the world should follow. We only have one earth.
His job is undoubtedly under appreciated and more valuable that thousands of jobs that pay much, much more.
16
Very interesting article! Excellent writing! Mr. Paisley is an inspiration to us all.
Wanna know an easy way to recycle soap ends? Throw them all in a jar of water you keep under the sink where they’ll soften up and after a year or two, blend them up to make your own body wash. Easy way to do a very, very small bit of recycling.
5
This is the most poetic, elegant article I’ve read in many a day- thank you for it. I hope it becomes a book and a play, as it’s a metaphor for our throwaway times. Would that we could all take lessons on what’s important, and how to live, from Mr. Paisley.
18
This was a fascinating article, and over it I came to really like Paisley and his philosophy. These sorts of different perspectives are why I read the Times. Great job!
30
Halpern’s an excellent story-teller, taking a mostly invisible chain of industry and making it human. Romantic. However, should anyone get too carried away, or themselves start carrying away, be aware that the street-level thirst for metals, especially copper, has negatives that far outweigh the benefits to people like Paisley. Cutting up air conditioners, transformers and machinery in general, releases the gases that are poisoning the atmosphere, the PCBs that poison soils and waters. Many copper alloys, like brasses, are not even slightly benign, and get tossed into furnaces along with plastics, in the case for scavenged wire. True, very large recyclers are recently monitored and use good practices, but their normal sources are mostly controlled industrial waste.
Street-level legal and illegal scrapping has destroyed unoccupied housing stock in the entire country. Ripping out old copper and brass plumbing and wiring takes a restorable house and makes it a teardown. Even a high-rise hotel or apartment building is the target for scavengers almost the instant it becomes vacant. My own business, making product from mostly expensive stainless steel, could not store stock outdoors, as it would instantly be converted from useful and valuable into anonymous and low-value scrap. No questions asked, a cash business.
15
@Marat1784
This comment makes an interesting point about potentially restorable homes that are left vulnerable. Given today's market with a shortage of housing and apartments maybe in some way a community could protect these homes and apartments since they might have a great value in the community. Right now Wall Street buys in volume empty homes, does some immediate restoration, and then speculates on market growth to make good profit whether renting or selling. This could be done at the local level.
5
Very thoughtful. And a crucial perspective on all of it. It illuminates the complexity of life. Thanks!
2
A while back I foolishly decided to rehab an old dumpy barn. I took the awful aluminum siding to a scrap metal dealer and made a little money. There were a few left over bits of trim that I put in the trunk of my car. I frequently saw a "scrapper" with a shopping cart on my commute and figured I could give them to him.
Of course it was raining the day I saw him, but I pulled over, jumped out of the car opened the trunk and offered him the contents. He immediately pulled out a magnet. Turns out my leftovers were not aluminum. He declined the offer.
4
Scrap ... who knew it (and its entrepreneurs) could be so fascinating? Paisley is my new hero. Beautifully done and a helpful reminder to not be a slob with your own recyclables. PLEASE SHARE!
13
The model family of America today. Something for our children to aspire to.
8
We have some retired guys at a local church that recycle. They will come and pick up anything metal at your house. They said they love Christmas lights which they strip while watching sports on TV. The money goes to subsidize the daycare at their church.
17
I don't want to sound all AOC here, but I'm wondering why Halpern found it necessary to mention that Paisley's wife was white? Why is that even a thing? Otherwise, a very interesting and well written article.
16
Yes, I wondered the same thing. It is always that way.
They were White / Black / Fat /Bald / Skinny / Old / Middle aged / White / Etc.
All the things to fear these days. And it always has to be mentioned. Just like Buckeye, I gotta ask - Why ?
2
@Buckeye Hillbilly Probably to add some context in reference to his son's "Peanut Butter" nickname.
3
@Buckeye Hillbilly
I agree. This was a great article, but I was wondering when I'd get to the part where Paisley's wife being white was relevant. I never did. (Go Bucks!)
2
Great article. Fascinating how Paisley seems to live on the cutting edge of the future, but his dream of the future looks like a form of the past -- bowhunting, not training a robot assistant... That's how he sees it, and he's the one doing it. Brilliant.
25
The most powerful nation in the history of the world, and a driven, energetic man is reduced to hunting through junk piles to make a living. Reminds me of pictures of similarly employed people living in the garbage dumps of impoverished nations. Kudos to Mr. Paisley, shame on the United States of America.
10
@Chris Scissor. I never thought of Paisley as “ reduced” to anything while reading the article. No one doing honest, hard, necessary work is reduced, they are elevated. Why do people look down their noses at manual labor?
6
Leave the old Buffalo train terminal alone. They’re trying to bring it back. The article implies “scrapping” or “salvage” was going on. That’s THEFT. These guys nearly ruined the old Asylum - now a restored hotel complex - by stealing decorative hinges, doorknobs, and other materials - egged on by local antique dealers. They just had a huge event at the old terminal to drum up support for its restoration. Leave it alone.
12
Really fascinating article on so many levels, fine writing and photography too.
I admire Paisley and identify with the dream of saving what others throw away, growing food, minimizing waste and "living off the land." We can't all be copper scrappers, but we can all learn something from his values, commitment, resourcefulness and deep sense of personal responsibility (remember when "conservatives" used to lecture us on that stuff?)
Individual actions really do matter, but ultimately we need massive systemic change to incorporate these values and the practice of reusing (not throwing "away" or recycling) into all of our lives and every corner of the economy. Green New Deal or bust.
Whatever we do let's not keep producing mountains of trash and shipping it to India (or whoever the next China is) so they too can burn millions of pounds of christmas lights for a decade.
20
This story is inspiring. I love it. It is very well done research too, real effort that went into it.
One quibble is the line, "The city has survived, in part, by devouring itself."
Yes, recycling is a way to keep us alive, a better way than draining resources.
However, what is happening in Buffalo is not survival of a city. It is recycling the carcass of a city. We mustn't kid ourselves. Buffalo died. People left. The economy in which those people lived is gone.
A new city, with a new economy, and different people, might or might not grow in the same location. But what was there died.
10
@Mark Thomas
Do you live here? I do. Buffalo will never be what it once was. But it’s far from dead. Young entrepreneurs have moved into blighted areas and opened some thriving businesses. Some major redevelopment projects have been completed with lots more in the pipeline. I get real tired of people who haven’t set foot here or haven’t been here since the 70s making tired pronunciamentos about Buffalo’s demise.
I loved this article and Mr. Paisley’s autarkical ethos. We drive by Aurubis all the time and was so cool to get a peek inside. Bravo to the Times for this terrific article.
2
Really interesting article, and though it is primarily about metals, the mention of using soap to the very end made me feel better about my practice (that other people think is being too frugal) of cutting open those pump bottles of hand cream to be able to use the one quarter or even a third of the contents that remain when the pump won’t pump it anymore. (I’m convinced it is designed that way on purpose.) I keep little plastic jars to put the cream into. But the very end - drink his coffee?? How will he grow his own coffee?
18
@Dfkinjer - I have a clear pump-top container of the liquid soap and I put some small polished stones in the bottom to reduce the amount of soap that's out of reach of the tube - then I keep refilling the bottle from an economy-size one without a pump. Every now and then when it gets low I add some water and use it until mostly dry, then fill again.
I've thought about the design, too, but having a disposable bottle with disposable pump is the problem - having the bottom designed so the contents pool just at the bottom of the pump tube would probably add an appreciable amount of material to each bottle.
And yeah, I've cut open bottles, too!
9
@Dfkinjer Haha! I do that with lotions too!
1
Done plenty of recycling myself. Back in the desktop computer days, folks used to put em out on the curb when they stopped working. Of course, they were generally quite easily repaired, usually just a dirty fan and heatsink on the CPU...the big brain. Depending on how dusty their house was, and whether they left them running day and night, some of these computers were no more than 6 months old. I picked up many valuable items on those curbs, used some, sold many. Then the city switched to those huge trash bins, and the computers went inside those cavernous monsters. I also gardened, fished, and hunted with a bow because a)bow season comes first and I was good with a bow and b)I hunted near homes on the suburban fringe. Now, I metal detect, I find gold, silver, abandoned valuables in the ocean, and yes, while I don't salvage copper much these days, I do still find and save up the odd piece for when prices recover. It's odd, but you do feel pride that you contribute less to the problem than a lot of other people, especially because one loves Nature and it's painful to see it in decline almost everywhere, and I don't mean just globally, but the places you've loved for the plants and critters, the form of the landscape, the ground and rock, the natural beauty, and then...it's gone, in just a day sometimes. How can Nature cope with a velocity of change like that? I knew, somehow, way back in the 60s and 70s, that we were heading down a bad path.
17
I'm so excited for this article!
In general, we need more support of recycling industries. We also need continued innovations to make recycling of all types as easy, low-energy, environmentally sustainable, and integrated as possible. It's great to see some coverage here.
33
Peanut Butter has a cool dad. He's lucky. A dad who works his (backside) off and cares about what he's doing. Here's to a future piece of the hinterlands, Peanut and Paisley!
56
We had better get this right (and turn it up a few notches) or our future will resemble the Mad Max movies.
12
Amazing writing. Thank you.
28
Paisley personifies the true meaning of "Public Servant".
Thank you for your contributions to saving our planet.
42
Great article, Jake, and I wish Paisley success in his endeavors. He's done far more for the earth than any of us!
45
hear here!
8
I've made the occasional run to my local metal recycler when I've had a few pounds of scrap brass after home renovations. It's been more for fun and pocket change than anything else.
My next door neighbors who just finished cleaning out their house prior to a move invited me to take a brass chandelier they were tossing. I was going to skip the offer -- but reading this story inspired me to pick it up from the curbside, where it awaited the trash company tomorrow, so that its metal content could be reused rather than end up in a landfill.
And I'll be about $15 richer -- enough to cover next month's online subscription to the Times. A win-win for everyone!
52
A great read - and well done Adrian Paisley and co. - but this article is about the "easy pickings" of our global waste generation problem. What is the US currently doing with the plastic waste it creates? Australia could use some guidance with respect to this issue. Cheers.
20
I'm a retired veteran of the electro-mechanical era living in NYC - I pick up discarded hardware from the streets, sort them into flat-rate mailers, and sell on eBay - I look up to Adrian
12
Thank you for the thoughtful essay. It was wonderful, informative and inspiring. Hello Peanut Butter!
18
Wonderful inspiring story.
9
At first read, this is a great story about recycling. Kudos to the scrap peddlers. Nice to see shiny rolls of re-engineered copper and newly stamped aluminum widgets. Yet it begs the question: How environmentally responsible are those reclamation facilities and foundries? To save the planet, we need to go the extra mile.
5
Recycling metal is easy. Let's talk about plastic!
25
This is a very interesting article but very lengthy. Paisley appears to be a very resourceful person.
There is too much of wastage in America, may be because of too much of availability, lack of certain basic knowledge, high transportation costs and high cost of service personnel due to which many household goods actually usable are simply kept out as garbage.
There are some other reasons for keeping them out. One of the partners dislikes the colour of cupboards and as such they are kept out if couldn’t be sold through garage sale. Some people might opt for a new TV having developed distaste for old TV. As such they decide to keep it out though in working condition. Some wire may be loose or remote may not work. As such the TV is kept out etc.
4
@Sivaram Pochiraju. We do waste entirely too much, we also consume too much. When I was a kid there were fix-it shops for most anything: small electronics, shoes, etc. now we just toss it. A young co-worker thought I was referring to the baked good when I referenced a “ cobbler” recently. It would be beneficial to get back to the traditional Yankee ethos of “ Use it up, Wear it out, Make it do, or Do without”
I hope you don’t mind me mentioning that I believe you mean “ throw” out when you say “ kept” out.
"where Paisley lives with his wife, Lori, and their 4-year-old son, Adrian III, whom they call Peanut Butter. Lori, who is white, works as a receptionist at a local hotel."
What's the point of pointing out that his wife's white? The article isn't about race. None of the other characters - bff Antoine, grandma Althea, attendant Charles, etc. were race-identified. Even Paisley himself isn't described as "black" upfront. Unless Lori's race or biraciality is an underlying issue discussed here, it almost looks as if making a point that his wife is white (where nobody else is race-identified, and where that is the first and only characteristic introduced about her) only serves to show that he is a black guy with a white wife. It doesn't help with moving towards colorblindness. 1619 Project? Am I missing something here?
46
@estar Really? I hope that's not your only takeaway from the story. Paisley and his fellow scrappers are doing great work. Let's hope more people take this occupation up. Yes, you are missing something here.
6
I think it was to point out that she was snobby which in current PC culture is a definite White marker.
7
@estar: Interesting point. The thing isn't to pretend not to be aware of races and ethnicities. Imagine trying to write the important stories in the 1619 Project without mentioning anybody's race.
It's definitely interesting that Paisley lives in a middle-class neighborhood, with a wife and kid, when the stereotype of a scavenger might have him living in an abandoned warehouse somewhere. His family being biracial suggests more interesting personal elements in the whole story.
But it's true, in relation to the story about scrap metal salvaging and how it fits into the changing nature of industry, her race is irrelevant, as is his. But the writer was trying to add some human interest, as writers always like to do.
14
Great story. Thank you Jake.
8
Where I live, neighbors are constantly leaving an assortment of "trash" for the metal pickers to collect on a daily basis.
These folks provide an invaluable service - our rusty lawn chair or broken washing machine goes out into the alley and within an hour of two, it is gone and the city garbage landfill is not polluted with any of the items in our alley or neighborhood.
One time I waited for the metal scavenger guys to come down the alley. I waved him over and asked him if he wanted some old metal tubs in our basement. His face lit up and said, "Absolutely".
At least in our neighborhood, this practice has been a win-win for the past decade or son.
Not sure what I am more pleased about - these guys picking up our metal trash items or that they make some bucks in the process. Probably happy for all involved.
26
I love this! I too am obsessed by the garbage casually discarded by my fellow Americans. I really think no company should be allowed to manufacture things without a plan to take it back or recycle or somehow properly dispose of the product once its use is complete. My husband and I hate to throw anything in the trash and pride ourselves on one bag or less of trash a week. Meanwhile my friend and neighbor across the street has an overflowing trash container every week. People throw things out that could be used by others or somehow recycled. I actually have to force myself to stop thinking about it or I go crazy. And yes, I have made the little bag out of an old washcloth and my soap scraps go in it!
20
Extremely interesting article; thank you, Jake Halpern! Mr. Paisley's outlook and vision for his family's future is inspiring. I empathize with his distress at finding the pile of discarded plastic bottles during his swamp visit.
If anybody is interested, NPR's Fresh Air did a great interview with Adam Minter a few years back: https://www.npr.org/2013/11/13/244984351/christmas-lights-make-slippers-in-global-junkyard-economy
(And yeah, I am one of those people who compresses leftover soap slivers into a washcloth to form a big, jumbled-up, mixed-soap bar. Been doing that for decades.)
10
@BJay: I just squash them right onto the new bar.
3
I’ve sometimes used the microwave to melt them into new bars, using a cup as a mold, but it’s a little tricky because the compositions vary.
2
“None of this. Glass bottles and all of this. You can’t break this down. The earth don’t break that down.”
Au contraire: every hear tectonic plate subduction?
A few million years at really high pressure and temperature will "recycle" just about anything.
Including all traces of humanity...
Really think that we are the first "intelligent" artifact producing species in the 4.5 billion years of the Earth?
6
@C. We have a pretty good timeline for life from the earliest single celled stuff, when the earth was young, to the current single celled stuff, with a few extra flourishes, and yes, we are the first ones to put water in plastic bottles and recycle copper wire.
13
Our big waste problem is plastic. We are burying our silly selves and everything else with it. And the vast majority of it is totally unnecessary. To go water? To go coffee? To go everything creating mounds of plastic trash that DOES NOT generally get recycled and too often ends up in the oceans. (Cigarette butts are 90% plastic and smokers think it is their god given right to throw them wherever they wish; unfortunately trillions of them each year wash into our waterways fouling beaches and killing wildlife.)
It is a time bomb disaster of epic proportions.
42
Great job Paisley and good concern for the earth. Not something I'd want to do everyday, But I did pick up $74 today taking in some aluminum
8
There is the other side of it however,unregulated dumping of chemicals and burning of wire,theft from buildings, farms and factories.there's been manhole covers taken by the hundreds and guys electrocuted by live wires.Metals yards get broken into constantly.When I was a truck hauler I was told of videos of guys filling a pick up truck by carrying 5 gal. buckets full of scrap through a cut in the fence.the owner said he wished to know who they were ,because he would hire them .
3
Good article on a trade that grew up with capitalism. Only thing it could have used was a bit more on the behemoths at the top of the food chain, like Aurubis A.G.
4
Paisley: You need to vote! There are people who want change on a national scale that will benefit you and you can still live the way you want. They are called Democrats.
21
The vast VAST portion of that $32B market is not scrappers. It's wholesale recycling as part of manufacturing - clean, sorted scrap sent back to the source from machining and other manufacturing operations.
12
@Mtnman1963: That's an interesting point.
This man is doing extremely honorable work, and I thank him for it.
23
The USA recycle about 1/3 of what Europe recyles comparatively.
Americans not only use so much plastic as everyday eating and drinking commodity but they also don't recycle relatively.
12
Here in Westchester we have seen the old Tappan Zee Bridge demolished. A lot of it was dumped at sea to provide an anchor for reefs for fish and mollusks. I suppose this is a kind of recycling.
I live in a retirement community where I serve on the recycling committee. It is unbelievably difficult to get the kitchen to give up a loving attachment to plastic straws and throw-away take-out containers. We did get rid of the styrofoam containers, however. But recycling food scraps is going to be Herculean endeavor. All sorts of rationalizations are offered.
On the verge of a big success: we are now able to order Beyond Burgers.
58
@mcs, the problem is not about recycling metals. No problem there. this article is null.
The problem is the plastic amount of ridiculous quantity that Americans use everyday and they don't recycle it.
Or vey little compared to Europe who uses much less and has already committed to drastic laws inexistent in the USA.
In Europe it is illegal to use plastic for food. In the USA it is everywhere coast to coast .Millions of tons everyday. And Americans have absolutely no conscience of the problem.
10
@JPH This country will bury itself in one gigantic landfill before submitting to more government regulation.
6
I was in a checkout line just the other morning. Guy behind me stopping in to get his couple of cookies in a Giant hard plastic box. You gotta wonder -add that up throughout the year. And then wonder where they all go. ???
3
Wow, what an excellent article.
69
This man's lifestory would make a great movie.
36
@glorybe You might enjoy film "Scrappers" by Scrappers Film Group.
https://www.scrappersfilmgroup.com/scrappers-movie
2
On the fence about this. While hard work should be rewarded what environmental controls are being followed when this gentleman is breaking down scrap? What about all the refrigerant in the AC coils?
I am not sure about Buffalo but based on an earlier Times article, this would be theft in the city.
https://www.nytimes.com/2016/03/21/nyregion/new-york-city-fights-scavengers-over-a-treasure-trash.html?searchResultPosition=3
2
@Eric He sends the scrap on to the people in those large recycling plants, like the one we have here. Those are major corporations and the onus of environmental controls are on them at this point. Paisley is performing the FIRST leg of the journey, by getting the stuff off the streets and other places it won't be used effectively.
So you would deny this guy his measly $100/day for the service he provides?
37
@entera. Reread the article. The author say the air conditioner was being “processed” by Paisley. No way to extract the copper tubing without venting the refrigerant to atmosphere, which is illegal. Small potatoes by individuals, yes, but in aggregate a big deal.
7
@Marat1784 & @Eric
Nearly a decade ago I was advising a startup seeking to aggregate large volumes of refrigerants and monetize the recovery of the CFCs that are up to 24,000 times more damaging to the environment than CO2.
Their analysis revealed that many refrigerant repair companies and their technicians falsified the volume they released to the environment so as to save time.
They worked to produce a closed loop method and technologies to literally treat the installed CFCs as an asset that could be recycled for a profit with the appropriate measuring tools and integration with a financial settlement system.
Visualize an ATM where CFCs are captured and converted to money, (Not a literal ATM, but conceptually that's what was done in an enclosure.)
We should see the challenges and rewards of the Green New Deal can spin off more technology than the space race did 60 years ago. All it takes is a bit of imagination and suddenly we discover it can be done. Keep going Mr Paisley, you're showing us the way.
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What great journalism...
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Along with being the highest per capita co2 producers on earth, we create the most garbage. It nice that there are people making money off our wasteful, destructive lifestyle, but in the end we are killing the planet by just being Americans. Neither we nor the earth can go on like this much longer.
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@Al It's a disposable society. The average American buys about 70 new articles of clothing per year. Where do all those textiles end up? Recycling is critically important, and we have a municipal composting program in NYC, but we MUST consume less. Reduce, reuse, THEN recycle.
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@Nathan. Agreed, but what to do about an economy that is based on ever more consumers, buying ever more junk that they don't need, with money they don't have? I get most of my sports gear and clothing off eBay and I sell what I don't use there. If everybody did that or what you suggest it would cause economic and societal collapse. A sustainable society and economy, in harmony with the natural world, something we aren't even thinking about, would need maybe a 1/3 of the people we have now. How do you sell that to a country and planet that thinks growth at all costs is sacred?
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@Al
World Bank data put the U.S. at #11 in per capita CO2 emissions.
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thanks, great story.
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Wow!! that cube of scrap copper is a fabulous work of industrial found art. Should be featured in museums and schools ; it's very cool.
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Great story on Mr Paisley, anyone who lives on trash in this country will probably do OK. I've known a few who did well at this trade.
Now if he could only monetize the trash that's on social media and Fox, he'd be truly wealthy.
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@joel strayer or CNN.
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If our "old" factories were functioning, we wouldn't have to recycle the parts and replace the steel mill with a Walmart!
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What an uplifting article. Trump take note - this is what a real man looks like.
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@Tom Thanks very much for a real laugh.
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Great piece. Thank you for youre work Mr. Paisley.
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If it hasn’t already been said here already, go watch “Wall-E”. Sure, it’s just another Pixar animated movie; but it also happens to be spot on. It’s our future, if we don’t wise up quick.
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A great story of redemption.
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Brilliant story. Great writer! JR
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Scrapping is big (and also illegal) here in Jersey City. When we first moved in I had a lot of metal (radiator covers, lawn mower, etc.). All I had to do was put it at the curb and within a few hours it would disappear, picked up by two guys in a beat up old pick-up. Great way to pass it on, the materials get re-used and someone makes a living. I even got their business card and, one day when I decided to take down the old chain link fence around the house, I called them, they came, took it down and took it away. No cost to me. They were happy to have it.
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I work in a big downtown office building. Tenants are always coming and going and every new tenant builds out the new space with a slightly different configuration of cubes and offices. The demo crews rip the entire floor's drywall out, along with the steel 2x4s, steel drywall corners, and ductwork. Sink fixtures, bathroom stall dividers, old office fridges and microwave--it's all tossed in the same dumpster and is sent to Mt. Trashmore to be entombed. Most higher-value wire, both electrical and CAT 5 ethernet cable, is usually recycled, however.
Speed of the office makeover is more important than recycling or making a few bucks with the mostly low-value steel scrap.
It'd be great if the demo crews could allow folks like Mr. Paisley to sort out the scrap. It'd be win win for the planet and folks like Mr. Paisley.
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@Brian I worked with and on construction/remodel sites doing large murals, etc. for many years, and the amount of perfectly good materials that get tossed on heaps and hauled to the dump is shocking. I've scavenged perfectly good drywall panels, plumbing, and unbelievable amounts of good wood from them on occasion. The contractors have always been happy to see it disappear, because they pay by the pound/ton to have it hauled away.
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@Brian, having worked in the scrap metal industry, I can guarantee those tip-off “dumpsters” stop at a scrap facility to have the metal sorted and recycled.
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Loved this story highlighting a Buffalo subculture of scavengers and the interesting people that are part of it.
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Fascinating, sure wish I was still scrapping now. New technologies.
Good luck Paisley.
Prices fluctuate based on demand, China is currently not demanding too much scrap as you can imagine. ( that is why the plastic bottles and aluminum foil you save go straight to the landfill now, no markets )
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When moving and downsizing recently, I wanted to recycle a bunch of random metal parts I had saved over the years, many containing brass. No one would take them in my affluent county; they wanted me to take the gizmos apart and just give them whatever metal it was they dealt in. At the end I couldn't be bothered so into the garbage they went. If small operators could lose their addiction to "free", they might open up a lot of new business.
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@CAPPut a "free scrap metal" ad under the free section of Craigslist and put your scrap out on the curb. It will be gone by lunch, guaranteed. I do this every year or so with my accumulated scrap from renovation projects, broken furniture, and dead appliances. And I donate still usable items to Habitat for Humanity's phenomenal Re-Stores.
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@Brian and @CAP
Also try www.freecycle.org in your community. Same thing, put up an add, you don't have to meet or talk to anyone - just tell them its at the end of your driveway and it will be taken.
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@Brian @HR
I meant that there might be a niche buying scrap from individuals, who may not want to just give it away. Perhaps pay less but perform the sorting process?
Thank you for a great article. Got to love the hustle.
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Metal is so highly recyclable it should be a crime to discard it. Aluminium is often referred to as solid electricity so reuse save a lot of electricity and CO2 emissions. Men like him are the planets unsung heroes. Thank you.
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Interesting story, but it leads us to believe all is rosy in the recycle industry. Expanding recycle efforts is the only way out of the trash problem this planet faces. Americans need to wake up fast and the government needs to encourage this from the very begining of product design. This topic has been talked about for over 30 years and not much has happened especially in low value materials like plastic. It makes me sick.
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Mr. Adrian Paisley is a very cool guy in a very different way. He's in the money.
I'd have to think that either venture capitalists or digital tech is going to subsume the whole business as big business. The guy who created the app is a portent.
Nothing about the environment. I wonder if the processes these scrappers utilize are optimal in an environmentally friendly way.
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Everything going on in the world is reflected on and linked together by telling this story through Paisley. No wonder the author won a Pulitzer!
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It's a valuable industry which recycles and reuses. Enough of trash being tossed and accumulating until the earth simply groans and gives up
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What a beautiful article. We should all be a little Paisley. I won't be throwing away soap slivers any more, hahahaha.
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@Chablis - I stack a few when they get too thin, then a bit of water and careful gripping makes them a workable single piece again.
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I have never thrown soap slivers away. Use them to make new soap. To make those fancy soaps, chop up the slivers. Get some glycerin soap base, few drops of fragrant oil. Heat up everything in microwave or double boiler. Pour in a mold. I use silicone ones. Cheap from Ikea. End product looks fancy and expensive. Wrap in a scrap piece of fabric, ribbon bow. Home made gift. Or use them yourself.
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Very interesting to those of us who literally grew up in junkyards. I recall vividly loading scrap metal into my dad's truck, and stripping transmissions to separate the steel from the aluminum. Most Americans are utterly unaware of this important, even indispensable, side of our economy. Kudos to Jake Halpern for writing this article!
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@Chris Rasmussen America's real superheros.
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@Chris Rasmussen
The little beach town where I live has alleys, regularly patrolled by men from Tijuana with pickup trucks. They take the big castoffs- old sofas and appliances- then refurbish them or use the parts. Trash to treasures is a good business for them.
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Interesting read and especially learning about Mr. Paisley and how he made it into the middle class by hunting scrap.
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As other recent articles have stated, recycling is not the ultimate solution to our waste problems. Reducing production and consumption of less desirable recyclables, like plastic, is more important.
https://www.latimes.com/california/story/2019-08-16/recycling-los-angeles-china-plastic-landfill?_amp=true
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@Dan How about we stop arguing about what's "more" important and just start getting it done like Paisley?
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Great reporting on an important subject. I read it quickly and maybe missed it - how much does Paisley make a year? Varies I'm sure but with the extensive detail and research done, that is key for me.
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@Paul Shindler It says, "On a good day, he found that he could make as much as $100 in cash." That was when he started. I figured that puts him at about $20K a year. I doubt he files taxes on that. Plus his wife's income, at minimum wage maybe another $30-35K.
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@ Paul Shindler. In the bad old days (you decide when that was), scrap was mob, cash business, little or no tax, unlimited air and water pollution, even absolute best body disposal service. There’s something romantic about buying and selling stuff with no records that could ever be verified. Isn’t that way anymore, of course. Except this week in lovely Fairfield CT there was something about wrong stuff going many wrong places, all on a town contract. As I note, romantic!
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@Adri The few times I've sold scrap metal, from old appliances, wire, fencing left on my property, I was paid cash only for less than $20 as I recall.
The purchaser required ID, and had receipted everything, so not filing taxes could lead to the seller being busted.
It's not easy, at least in Oregon, to sell scrap anonymously.
Well done story. Mr. Paisley is a modern philosopher pioneer. Godspeed.
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What a great story...I admire Mr. Paisley and his vision. Gives me hope and I hope it inspires others.
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Curious as to whether or not the transformers he found on the old stadium site had any PCB's. Could be problematic.
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@Dan Ryan: In Olympia, WA, copper scavengers dumped PCB-laden oil from transformers; the cleanup effort is massive
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@ Dan Ryan. As you likely know, almost any large transformer in a can or shell used to be completely filled with PCBs, including even now, street transformers on every block in America that haven’t failed or been upgraded. Tens of gallons for even these, in an upside down legislative world where parts per billion can condemn a property, and where it is difficult to chemically alter these oils (their primary benefit back when) so transformers tend to languish indefinitely on storage lots or are just left in the weeds. It’s at least as idiotic as the banned-but not-banned asbestos universe.
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Loved this profile all the more for coming from Buffalo. What a character and what a story. I hope he finds his peace. It's out there, in parts of the state where I grew up, nobody and nothing.
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@mjw I also hail from the Buffalo/WNY area. This was wonderful piece, highlighting Paisley's niche occupation and the larger effort to reclaim metals. Thankfully Buffalo has this trade, I just wish we could apply it to other materials like plastics.
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Actually, refrigerators are made of styrofoam covered with with ever thinning metal or plastic plates.
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@zumzar Uh......yes, and compressors and evaporator and condensor tubing all made from metal. What did you think? That they are just boxes with a cord and plug?
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@zumzar. Brings up another sick evolution. In order to maximize interior volume, hold down materials cost and weight, while still meeting some vague energy standards, the insulation gets thinner, the shell flimsier, the ‘energy saving’ by manipulating the cycle, and the result is an unrepairable, less-durable throw-away appliance. When electricity was an expensive household luxury, say about 100 years ago, the engineers built really sensible refrigerators, like the old GE monitor tops, many of which have now run for a century. The works should have remained on top, the walls thick, and the interior really cleanable.
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