So in the uk your get these blokes who will drive around the streets and collect up any scrap metal they can see so that they can take it to scrapyard to sell, a lot of people will leave stuff outside there house or bring things out to them if they hear um coming ( a lot of um will have speaker that will play OLD IRON ANY OLD IRON on repeat). I know it’s a bit of a weird question but it’s just on my mind I’ve never heard an American mention it or ever seen them mentioned in pop culture so I’m wondering is it one of those things exclusive to the uk or is there similar people in the states ?
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It’s not a thing in the US that I’m aware of. You have to call people to come pick up scrap metal.
People do that with old furniture or other junk they want to get rid of, leave it on the curb and someone will drive away with it
>( a lot of um will have speaker that will play OLD IRON ANY OLD IRON on repeat)
it’s like a scrap metal ice cream truck
I mean, we do have crackheads
Definitely a thing in the US. Especially in cities and suburbs. Even more so when metal prices are up. Beat up old pickup trucks with trailers will go neighborhood to neighborhood on trash day.
Also you can put an add up on Craigslist under the ‘free’ section and people will come pick it up.
I know some industrious kids who do it too.
They do not, however, play music or anything of the sort.
Definitely a thin around here. And it’s not just scrap metal. Leave anything of value out for trash collection and the pickers will come and pick i up first.
It’s a thing in certain areas, but they don’t advertise it. Where I live, if you leave scrap out on the street, it’s usually gone by the end of the week.
There are folks who walk around the city to collect cans and bottles to redeem them for money. They harvest the cans and bottles and take them to a center to convert them into money.
https://www.nytimes.com/2019/12/26/nyregion/collecting-cans-collectors-nyc.html
[Each can and bottle](https://www.nytimes.com/2011/07/27/nyregion/bottle-and-can-scavengers-in-brooklyn-make-every-penny-count.html) costs five cents to redeem.
Yeah, I remember we left a grill (for cooking) out on the curb for the trash guys to collect but before they came someone came cand took the grill cover (one of the plainest and cleanest parts)
there’s people they will strip building for copper wires and sell it for drugs and stuff.
We have one guy in the neighborhood that always drives around looking for metal to collect and sell. Pretty much anything I put out on the curb is gone very quickly. Why throw stuff away when someone will find a use for it? I even had a neighbor put out a $500 drink cooler (think mini fridge but this is specifically for beer and wine) on the curb because he didn’t want to be bothered with selling it. No one grabbed it so I’m like shit I’ll sell it. Easiest $200 I’ve ever made.
Yeah I see them often, but they’re subtle. If I put any metal stuff out on trash day its usually gone before the garbage truck arrives.
So we have scrapers for sure. An old guy with a trailer and a beat up truck rides around before trash day. It’s good to get to know them. Especially if you need something really obscure. I know the guys that come around my neighborhood always find bikes. And I asked them about a small beach cruiser bike to have for visitors. And they brought me one.
Sounds like my uncle. He picks up cans after concerts and such, and gets the refund on them
You know the saying, Detroit hustles harder
There are pickers, but they mostly focus on antiques and whatnot, more than just scrap metal.
Yeah, there’s a group of brothers in my neighborhood. We call them “the Junk Men” drive around collecting scrap metal and old appliances, they also do a lot of freelance repair and reselling of appliances if they can be fixed.
They exist, but I don’t think they’re as common as what you are describing. What’s more common in my state is people collecting 5 cent refundable cans and bottles on garbage day.
Not quite the same, but we do have ‘pickers’ in the South, usually older men but sometimes not, who drive around in pickups often with trailers and pick up your old appliances and furniture. They refurbish it and either sell it or give it away. Often they collect things as well so their habit reinforces their hobby. There was a TV show on them called ‘American Pickers’ not too long ago, and while this only covered their junkyard/storage unit finds, they also roam the suburbs.
Either they exist or the old stove I put out at the curb last month grew legs and walked off before the city came by to take it away.
Two methheads fried themselves after trying to steal some [live] copper wiring from a public park.
I live in a fairly upscale neighborhood and we get a lot of them every trash day. We call them “pickers”. They have pickup trucks overflowing with scrap items.
Yeah, my neighbor Donny around the corner. He grabs everything and uses old cars as storage sheds. I’ve never seen him take shit away to make money though. Dudes really bringing down the neighborhood. Does great work clearing snow if you hire him though.
The guys with the old pickup trucks with cages around the bed driving around the evening before garbage day… they’re a thing in Chicagoland.
They pounced on my parents’ old gas stove like starving men on a sandwich. We wheeled it to the curb and they were hauling it into the truck bed before we got back up to the house… i swear they weren’t on the street and it was like they beamed in from the Enterprise. We turned around and there they were, putt-putting off in a cloud of blue smoke and mariachi music.
Oh yeah, for sure. In the alley behind the building where I work, pickup trucks drive up & down several times during the day and night picking up whatever they can find. I left a small fridge out there once & someone took it. If I’m retiring an old computer, I’ll take out the hard drive and leave the case in the alley. It’s usually gone within an hour. There’s a guy who drives around picking up pallets too, so we leave those out there for him.
Specifically scrap metal? No
But putting old junk out on the curb with a sign saying “free” is common enough. Especially in urban areas. Someone will come take it.
All over the place. It’s a combination of homeless, many using shopping carts, and guys driving around in pickup trucks with plywood panels on the side that drive down side streets and alleys looking for anything recyclable and they take it to the scrap metal recycling. When metal prices go up we’ve had issues with people stealing copper off of air conditioning units, exposed cables, etc. There’s a law where I am that the scrap yards can’t take man-hole covers (sewer access) because people would try to sell them and it’s a public safety hazard.
Yes, they don’t have loud speakers though.
Note: I take offense to those associating real “scrap men” with drug users. A scrap man will take what he wants, leave the area clean, and be welcome back again as he’s essentially performed a service for free. A crackhead smashes stuff, takes only what he needs leaving a mess – and is not welcome back, not performing any valuable service.
I don’t think it’s super common. Usually we have a bigger issue with people illegally taking building supplies and selling it for scrap.
I’ve had success advertising (Facebook Marketplace) a curb alert for scrap. I don’t have a truck so it’s a fair deal. They get free scrap and I get it out of my house.
I’m pretty sure that’s all my hillbilly neighbors do. They’re all tweaked out and drive around all day and night going through people’s trash on the curb for metal or anything valuable (which is legal in the US). I’ve known several people at the bottom of society over the years that do the same thing. Announcing it isn’t a thing here though because its seen as shady.
You haven’t ever seen it in pop culture because its a level of society that isn’t really mentioned or delved into on movies and TV shows. Most Americans haven’t gone down to that level.
Yeah I have a dude I’ve used quite a few times because I’m too lazy to borrow my friends truck and take it to the dump myself. Or just leave shit by the street and it eventually gets picked up. Or I post something on our local facebook by nothing page and someone will come pick it up.
The rag and bone man!
There are definitely people like this, but they’re on the very low end of the socioeconomic spectrum and I’d say their activities are pretty invisible. The kind of people who drive a rusted-out S10 pickup around nice neighborhoods looking for stuff wealthier folks have left out on the curb.
It’s a bit interesting here in the city – because of how much foot traffic there is it’s very common for people to out all kinds of little things out on the curb, stuff you couldn’t exactly throw in the suburban grass by your mailbox and expect people to see. But you still have the rag and bone men.
The people doing that are Irish Travelers which aren’t really in the US on the same level as the UK/Ireland