Construction Progress - Part VIII

• Construction Progress: Part I
• Construction Progress: Part II
• Construction Progress: Part III
• Construction Progress: Part IV
• Construction Progress: Part V
• Construction Progress: Part VI
• Construction Progress: Part VII

Framing has begun at the MSU Surplus Store and Recycling Center we have started to see the facility take shape. The steel framing has gone up in what will be the MSU Surplus Storage Facility and also over part of the MSU Surplus Store sales floor and offices. In the Recycling side of the building the trench for the Baler Pit has been dug and on the southern portion of the facility the grading for the outside processing area has continued.

Remember to keep checking back for more updates! Also don't forget that we have a compilation of all of the constructions photos available. We would also like to thank Irish Construction Company who has been very gracious in allowing us access and keep us very up to date with the progress of construction (which is on schedule).

Introduction to the MSU Surplus Store

The MSU Surplus Store Sales Floor
An example of a few of the items we have normally

What do compost, pillows, cars, and bowling pins have in common? You can find them all at the MSU Surplus Store (at one time or another), along with hundreds of other items. Here at the MSU Surplus Store, we stock an incredible variety of items. Some are one of a kind, such as a robot that is designed to navigate based on its vision, others are more common like tables and chairs. One of the most interesting parts of the MSU Surplus Store is what we have for sale and how often it changes.

This unpredictable variety is due to the fact that we pick up items from every department on campus year round! One day one of the science departments might be clearing out old microscopes and the next the English Department might be getting rid of an old conference table. This is precisely what makes the MSU Surplus Store such an exciting place to shop at, but it can be frustrating when trying to hunt down a specific item. This article offers a rough guide to what you can expect when you come to visit us.

There are some constants you will always find when you come to the store. We almost always have a variety of office chairs primarily priced from $5-$25. Additionally, you can expect to find a long lineup of filing cabinets. Filing cabinets range in price from around $35-$80 depending on size and in what condition they are in. Additionally, you can usually find tables and desks of some kind for use in an office or at home as well as shelves in many different sizes. The most common type of shelves are about seven feet high and come with five individual shelves that can be adjusted depending on the height of the stored items. These shelves often come in “bold” colors and are priced at $35. Periodically, we also have wooden shelves and smaller metal shelves.

The next constant you will always see here at the MSU Surplus Store is our Computer Department. This is a great place to find home and office electronics without spending a great deal of money investing in new products. We have computer systems, copiers, printers, monitors, and even laptops on occasion! This is also a great place to get components like cables, speakers, keyboards and mice. While these items can be pricey to buy new at retail outlets, the MSU Surplus Store offers speaker sets for $9, mice for $1.00 and keyboards for only $0.25! The Computer Department also regularly stocks specialty items such as projectors, servers, switches, and many other more advanced computer items.

The MSU Surplus Store Staging Area.
Here we hold items before they are made available for sale every Tuesday and Friday.

In addition to the office items, you will also always find our book store. The book store features fiction, non fiction, magazines, Public Television items, comic books, and vintage magazines! We try to completely restock the book store with new titles at least twice a month and you can get alerts about when we have restocked the store on Twitter. We sort books received from every corner of campus, sell some online in our eBay store and put others on the floor for sale mostly between $1-$2 each. Recently, we have added art and architecture books, children books, and selection of books focusing on Africa to our book store.

Beyond these basic items, there is no telling what you might find at the MSU Surplus Store! We have recently stocked fake plants, a dance floor, an air hockey table, dozens of apartment sized refrigerators, dorm furniture, various lab equipment, nacho cheese dispensers, large speakers, and many many more items! Next time you are in the market for a specific item, consider calling the MSU Surplus Store at (517) 355-0364 to see if we have one in stock, or better yet just stop by!

We are open for viewing, Monday through Friday noon till 3:30 and we sell items on:

Tuesdays from 7:30am to 5:30pm
Fridays from 7:30am until 3:30am

The MSU Surplus Store is not just a store, it's an experience!

Spartan Charge for Auction on eBay

The "Spartan Charge" is a hybrid electric vehicle designed and built by a team of Michigan State University students from the colleges of Agriculture and Natural Resources, Business and Engineering during 1992-93. The car was entered in a Ford HEV National intercollegiate competition and won several awards for materials usage and body styling.

The car has been in storage for several years and is thus being sold as a non-working, experimental project vehicle. This is a great opportunity to own a piece of MSU history. If you happen to know anyone who worked on this project please pass this link along.

Spartan Charge Auction

Construction Progress - Part VII

• Construction Progress: Part I
• Construction Progress: Part II
• Construction Progress: Part III
• Construction Progress: Part IV
• Construction Progress: Part V
• Construction Progress: Part VI

Work continues on the inner portion of the building with many of the interior wall footings being placed. You can start to see the outlines of the interior areas that will make up the offices, bathrooms, and meeting rooms for the new building. This has allowed for mechanical and electrical conduits to be placed and testing has begun on the water main. On the south side of the site, leveling and grading has started for the southern portion of the exterior Recycling and Surplus processing area.

Remember to keep checking back for more updates! Also don't forget that we have a compilation of all of the constructions photos available.

MSU Surplus Scrap Metal Program

The Institute of Scrap Recycling Industries (ISRI) estimates that in 2007, 95 million metric tons of scrap metal were recycled last year in the US. Here at the MSU Surplus Store, we have recently started an initiative to increase and promote metal recycling on campus. We have been gradually increasing the amount, type and services associated with the recycling of metals. In our first year we were able to recycle 1.1 million pounds of scrap metal.

The advent of the MSU Surplus Stores scrap metal program can be attributed mainly to two factors, the increasing value of metals and the environmental benefits of scrap recycling. There has been a dramatic increase in the price of scrap metal over the past few years. The rise in scrap prices has been mostly due to demand outpacing supply. Scrap metal is proccessed and then used for manufacturing new products. Currently recycled scrap accounts for 40 percent of global raw material for manufacturing. As the demand for raw materials has increased worldwide, the cost of scrap metal has followed increasing the incentive to recycle scrap materials.

 Levi Dysinger dismantling a rotor for the MSU Surplus Store Scrap Metal Program.

The second major benefit for scrap mental recycling is the energy saved by using recycled materials vs. virgin ore. For example, recycled scrap metal uses far less energy then processing new virgin ore (Source):

• 95% less for aluminum
• 85% less for copper
• 74% less for iron and steel

In addition to the energy savings, recycling scrap metal also helps keep waste out of landfills by making new products out of obsolete or nonfunctional metal goods.

The MSU Surplus Store recycles various types of metals including aluminum, copper, cast iron, brass, and steel. These types of metal come from products such as oil filters, power cables, telephone lines, air conditioners, batteries, keys, and many more. Most of these items are collected as surplus items from across the university campus. The bulk of the metal processed through the MSU Surplus Store is shredder scrap which consists of mixed materials that are separated through processing at the scrap metal processing facility. This accounts for around 92% of the metal processed at MSU Surplus based on weight. The other 8% is scrap metal which has been sorted by the raw material the item was manufactured out of. These sorted metals have greater value and account for around 65% of the revenues from scrap metal processing. Gradually we are improving our ability to process these materials to increase the revenues we are able to give back to MSU departments.

Currently we offer a number of different opportunities for departments to gather their scrap metals. We have a "Blue Barrel Program" which provides departments with a collection bin for their metals that can be picked up by MSU Surplus and taken for processing. We also offer onsite services for removal of large or specialty items which we can cut and torch into a more manageable size. This also allows for the separation of different types of metal which greatly increases potential revenue. Pictued above is a 20,000 pound rotor which had a copper inner core. We removed the outer covering allowing us to turn the copper core in to the scrap metal plant for maximum revenue. Finally, we offer Freon Removal services for refrigerators, freezers, air conditions and other lab equipment. This program both ensures that the freon is properly disposed of as well as generates revenue from the metals used to manufacture these items.