The adage ‘one man’s trash is another man’s treasure’ has proven to be true for a group of binmen who have been making a profit from discarded items. When asked on Reddit “What’s the most valuable item you’ve found in the trash? ‘, these refuse workers revealed the surprising and valuable items that people have carelessly thrown away.
One binman responded: “I found an oven that worked and ladies would throw away £100 to £200 brand new purses. Gucci, Prada, Armani glasses just because they had tiny, tiny scratches on them.” Meanwhile, a user who works as security at a city dump claimed to have discovered several items that could have fetched a hefty sum if sold. He said: “I had time to explore and no one supervising.
“I found many handy things that people had just thrown away because they don’t want to post it online and have someone take it away. “‘I don’t want to be step-parent anymore – raising another person’s kid is exhausting'”My best finds are thousands and thousands of roofing nails, fencing nails, and a working Poulin 2000 chainsaw (vintage and really good).
“[I found] a drill press from Kalamazoo MI from a Company that went out of business in 1953, and a patio set that was perfectly mint. One of my favourite finds is a ‘Caution, keep out: 138 000 volts’ sign from the power plant.”
Another chimed in: “My dad worked at a garbage and recycling centre when I was young, and the majority of toys that I got were reclaimed from there. I’ll never forget my one armed Buzz Lightyear.”
Someone else contributed: “My dad found two working Playstation 2s, a TV, classic VHS movies back when he worked at his old garbage company. The list is endless.”
And another refuse collector shared: “A non-password protected laptop with probably 10 years of information on it. Besides that, a 1960s tube amp or an akai real to real.”