deskthority

So following the teachings of the great prophet Chyros I visited my local recycling center asking for access to the keyboard vault. They laughed at me but loved the idea of someone actually doing some kind of real recycling on the stuff they otherwise just smelt for metals.

Unfortunately, I'm in Germany and there's rules and regulations. They can't just give away stuff to people and I can't access their sorting facility without protective shoes and a warning vest. I also had to register a small business so that they can send me commercial invoices ...

But ... it was all worth it. Today was the first time I was allowed into the keyboard vault. They started collecting all keyboard in a seperate box two weeks ago and got about 50 of them together in a container. I went through them and took everything I thought was worth taking. I will be posting pictues of my hauls here. Let me know if you're interested in any of this. I'm generally open to selling some of the items I scavenge but please make a decent offer ...

Todays bounty:

• Razer Black Widows Ultima 2013 (MX Blue)
• Cherry G81 Doubleshot
• Cherry G81 Thick Lasered PBT
• Cherry G80 HAD (two caps missing)

That's such a great idea Wodan! Unfortunately, I'm not interested in any of these, but props for taking the initiative!

Awesome! Do that mean that you now have access to all German (or even European?) recycling centers?

Well I got the idea from Chyros who's been talking about this in his videos on his awe-some youtube channel.

https://www.youtube.com/user/Chyrosran22

And unfortunately, this only applies to my local recycling center
Would be too awesome if that applied to anything else ... I'm sure this is alot less bureacratic elsewhere on this planet. The recycling center here is run by the community administration, things might be alot easier in privately run companies.

So cool Wodan - congrats on the access! I wouldn't mind doing the same here. Did you have to sign on for a minimum order per haul or what? Sorting the keyboards into a separate container is a bit of extra work for the recycling staff, so I would think they wouldn't do it unless they had a guarantee of some sort?

Cool, I see it's paid off then . Supply to places like that tends to be extremely irregular but with some patience you might be able to snag some really good deals! .

I am interested in any alps stuff!

Scarpia:
Well we agreed on a flat fee per keyboard. They said it's not a big deal for them to collect them in another bin. Then they asked if I was coming back for more and told me about two other outlets they have and told me they were going to collect the keyboards from there as well ! LOL .. expect a very solid supply of random Cherry keyboards from me

Chyros:
Well this already went better than I thought. It was definitly worth all the troubles already and they want to give me more

Redmaus: me too !!!!

Well...on the offchance you discover an M122, I'm interested! I know it's a very small chance and that there are other places to find them, but, you never know, eh?

Thanks for keeping the recycling tradition alive. This sort of behavior is a real contribution to the hobby and to the environment.

I'd like to write up a FAQ page on the Wiki about dealing with recyclers - handy tips and tricks, etc. Maybe I'll get to this in a couple of weeks.

XMIT:
Please keep me in the loop should you get around doing so. I can write a section about the situation in Germany

Of course: my quick tips:

- wear gloves
- wear steel toed boots (seriously)
- keep a key cap puller and a flashlight handy at all times
- wrap cords around keyboards - it's not great for the cords (you should undo this ASAP) but it makes it way easier to move them around with cords tangling.
- keep a small bucket or similar around for the inevitable spare key caps
- stay hydrated

Another tip: In many centers, the doors from the warehouse to the office space are kept locked. The office space is where the restrooms usually are. It pays to ask before you get started about restroom access. Also take a small first aid kid, Band-Aids, alcohol, ointment, etc. Although the centers have first aid kits, they have to report all injuries, so it is best to have your own.

How much $/board did they ask for the extra work ?

That's confidential

5€

Wodan wrote: ↑That's confidential

5€

Do you have to pay for other boards they've picked for you as well?
I was wondering what could happen if you couldn't find anything nice at all...

No, just the ones I take. We will see how they react once I've been there 2-3 times and find nothing.
They promised more keyboards next time though ...

Next raid in x-19h

Oh yeah another quick tip is to keep a length of twine or rope tied to your keypuller. I unfortunately lost mine at my last visit to the warehouse

Good luck Wodan!!

Come on write that wiki article !!

I'd have left the Razer there to get destroyed out of pure disesteem!
The other stuff is actually very nice tho, will you keep us updated? I'd maybe be interested in some cherry caps for my custom project

I'll post a full report tomorrow. Maybe I can take some pics there.

Hopefully I can convince myself to sell some of my finds this time ))

Thats overall really cool, hope that you get cool stuff, interested in any ibm or alps stuff.

Seconding the Alps love - if you find you're hauling in more than you can stow in your keyboard lair

Relax, it's gonna be a Cherry orgy.

A rubberdome rudelbums !!

That's something I wanted to ask since I joined DT! how do you approach recycling centers?did you just knock on the door and ask if you can scavenge? or would it be better to offer some free hours of work in exchange? I have written an email to a recycling nearby (North East Italy here) and I didn't even get an answer...go figure. bureaucracy you say? in Germany? believe me:you are amateurs! I'm almost certain if - and only if - I will ever get the chance to put a feet inside I will have to, at least:

- wear a suit (OK with that)
- sign a paper swearing I won't make a job out of it (because the owners do make a living out of that and you are clearly there to steal their money, aren't you?)
- sign a contract stating I'm not really there. not joking. imagine if some kind of job inspectors find you there working for free!!! in Italy you can't work for free - labor unions will get you impaled and burned ... OK, OK, I'm a bit exaggerating here they don't burn you anymore
- maybe avoid being kicked off by other regular workers: "who is the lunatic rummaging down there?!"

oh, I forgot the *ultimate* question!!

what happen If you get hurt? who is responsible for that?

and no: not even signing another f*cking piece of paper will convince the owners to let you stroll around a possibly hazardous place they run,even if you access plastic-only stuff. I can bet on that.

nonetheless I would really like to try with another center, the one we sent two trucks full of e-waste from my university last month. that was nothing interesting (since I got access to the stuff while it was still in place) but that company sure handle large quantities of computer parts, so I'm eager to hear your advices!! how would you approach them?

Seriously? I just go up to the guys in my normal clothes (which are so casual you can barely imagine it) and go "hey guys, how's it going, have you got any old keyboards by any chance?" :p

I know all the guys at my recycling centres very well now, you get very friendly with them over time .

I just avoided this whole charade while in university and got them from the recycling centre's source: directly from the skip on campus!