Windsorites are collecting scrap metal and old electronics to help make ends meet

 

By Barry Hazlehurst

Old unused electronics and scrap are being collected by people in Windsor to sell at electronics and recyclers and scrap metal yards to supplement their income.

“I usually look for metal and old appliances at the side of the road that people have tossed out,” said Terry Snively, a 48-year-old Windsorite who became unemployed in 2013.

“It’s hard work. Sometimes you can collect metal all day and still only get like $20.” Snively searches the streets on garbage day looking for things to bring to the Windsor Electronic Depot.

The depot, located at 1329 Windsor Ave. takes old printers, laptops, computers and most other electronic devices. The depot has been in operation for four years and has an assortment of electronics ready to be shipped to Toronto.

“Our electronics recycling depot supplies 10 processing plants in Toronto,” said Paul Sidhu, the 44-year-old co-owner of Windsor Electronics Depot.

Sidhu said many of the people who bring used electronics to the depot are doing it to help support themselves.

“Our depot is government sponsored. The funds it receives to pay scrap collectors comes from the electronics tax that you have to pay when buying new electronics,” said Sidhu.

Snively is not alone. Sidhu believes there are other people looking for old electronics and metal to sell to the depot as well. The scrap brought in to the depot is separated by metal type and weighed to determine its worth.

According to reveiwcanada.ca, London and Windsor lost more than 30 per cent of their manufacturing jobs in the last decade.

“It’s really sad what has happened to this city, I was born and raised here it has had its ups and downs but it has never been this bad before,” said Snively.

Windsor Electronics Depot is just one of numerous recyclers in the area that compensate collectors for scrap material.