Can You Really Make Money Recycling Incandescent Lightbulbs?
Every few years, a rumor starts to circulate about a new way to make a lot of money by recycling materials that contain gold, platinum, silver and other precious metals.
In today’s post, let’s explore some of these rumors and find out whether they are true or false.
False: There Is a Fortune to Be Made Recycling Incandescent Lightbulbs
This rumor goes something like this . . .
Incandescent lightbulbs contain platinum. And because millions of them are being tossed now as people move to LEDs and other eco-friendly kinds of bulbs, there is a fortune to be made by collecting old incandescent bulbs and recycling them.
This rumor is based on the misconception that incandescent lightbulbs contain platinum. The problem is, they don’t. Their filaments are made of tungsten, which is a fairly inexpensive metal, not a precious metal at all. So even though older bulbs are piling up – you might even have a stock of them in your home – you can’t make money recycling them.
True: You Can Make Good Money by Recycling Implantable Pacemakers
This rumor goes something like this . . .
New and more advanced implantable pacemakers are being introduced all the time, making older devices obsolete. Many of those devices contain platinum, and now is a good time to collect them and extract the platinum they contain.
This rumor is true. And you have to remember that most pacemakers (and implantable defibrillators too) are often made with platinum outer cases, because platinum will not react with the body. Yet there are a few issues to remember if you decide to invest in older pacemakers:
Pacemakers that have been removed from patients are not available, because they are a form of medical waste. Hospitals that replaced them with newer units won’t sell or give them to you. Hospitals send used units back to the company that made them for recycling and/or refurbishing. (You really wouldn’t want a used pacemaker anyway, would you?)
And what about stocks of obsolete pacemakers that have been replaced by newer models? Similarly, programs are in place that allow hospitals to return new, unused pacemakers to their manufacturers, where they will be refurbished or recycled. Still, you might be able to negotiate with hospitals to buy older stocks of unused new pacemakers. Call hospitals and ask. The worst they can tell you is no.
True and False: Large Quantities of Gold Can Be Extracted from Sand that Is Found in and Near Oceans
This rumor goes something like this . . .
If you collect sand from beaches or the ocean floor and send it to a precious metal refinery, you can make a lot of money because that sand contains gold.
This rumor is partly true, because most sea sand really does contain tiny amounts of gold. The problem is that the amount of gold that common sand contains is very, very small. In order to obtain only a few dollars’ worth of gold, you would have to collect tons and tons of sand.
False: Old Glass Beverage Bottles Contain Gold that Can Be Extracted Profitably
This rumor goes something like this . . .
Old glass beverage bottles contain gold that can be easily, and profitably extracted if you grind them up and send the grindings to a precious metals refinery. You can even find videos online of experimenters who claim they are doing just that.
But this rumor is, for all practical purposes, false. It is theoretically possible that there might be some glass bottles out there that contain gold, but it has never been used to manufacture large quantities of glass bottles. (Why would it be?) So if someone repeats this rumor to you, smile and then go on to talk to another person.
Beyond Rumors . . . Practical Advice on Making Money in Precious Metals
Although it is a big assignment, we urge you to spend a little time reviewing all the posts on our blog. In them, you will learn real-world advice on making money by recycling old gold jewelry, used platinum laboratory equipment, automotive catalytic converters, and even unusual items like dental appliances and medical testing probes.
So rather than listening to rumors, you can take a little time to educate yourself about practical ways to make money by recycling scrap that really does contain quantities of precious metal that you can profit from. To learn more, call our highly qualified precious metal refiners at 800-426-2344. We are the place to profit from investing in precious metals. And that’s not a rumor – it is a fact that has been proven by thousands of our customers over the decades we have been in business.
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