There was an article in Wired a couple (few) years ago about guys who did
this professionally around the Toronto area (IIRC). They were making up to
$200k per year diving! The article was interesting; the author went on
some dives with them, talking about how they were actually spelunking in
the large (20'-40' dumpsters). I remember some of the hauls were like 500
laptop batteries, 80 used toner cartridges, etc. One nights haul was in
the tens of thousands...
Never had that much luck myself. The best I've done is a working Xerox
copier (with collating/stapling) that I resold for $100, and I once found
a really nifty rolling toolbox, as used in auto mechanics' garages, with
one drawer missing...
On Thu, 10 Feb 2000 S.D.Birchall(a)pgr.salford.ac.uk wrote:
Dumpsters are less common in the UK, though we do have
"bins"
and skips that can yield up interesting finds.
Check out:
http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/1893626075/o/qid=9501
95643/sr=8-1/103-0416203-0784633
The Art and Science of dumpster diving - a bit tongue in cheek, but
some useful info nonetheless.