Back in May, the owner of a 1977 International Harvester dump truck valued at about $5,000 parked it in his Syracuse, NY driveway. Neighbors told police that someone came with a flatbed truck, loaded up the dump truck, and took it away. Did they buy the truck? Repossess it? No. The couple are accused of stealing the truck, then selling it for about $450 in scrap metal. [More]
scrap metal
City Paid $1,000 For Iron Trash Cans, Thieves Sell Them For Scrap Metal
By 5.26.11
Back in 2009, the city of Pittsburgh paid $250,000 for 250 elegant iron trash cans weighing more than 200 pounds each. Critics of the mayor called it a waste of city funds at the time, but they are very nice-looking. Now 20% of them are missing, and it took police and the public works department four months to figure out where they’ve gone. They were hauled off and sold for scrap. Update: Theft Of Pittsburgh’s Iron Trash Cans Allegedly An Inside Job [More]
Beware The Radioactive Cheese Graters
By 6.8.09
Ever feel like everything gives people cancer these days? Well, you might not be too far from the truth. A Scripps News investigation found that “radioactive waste is being mixed with other metals in scrap yards and recycling facilities, often overseas, and then shipped into the U.S. in a range of consumer products.” The products include household cheese graters, recliners, handbags and forks and knives, along with fences, shovels, elevator buttons, airline components and building steel. [Yahoo! Green] (Thanks to Liz!) (Photo: Richard Faulder)
Scrap Metal Prices Up… Along With Beer Keg Thefts
By 7.3.07
Beer makers are saying that when scrap metal prices go up, so do thefts of beer kegs. No big deal, you think? The Beer Institute (yes, this is real.) says kegs stolen and sold for scrap cost them up to $50 million dollars a year. “It really got people’s attention because that’s a significant flow of our kegs that we’ll never see again,” [a spokesperson] said. “We know some of it’s very innocent but some of it’s not.”
