A man has discovered a gold mine in the unlikeliest of places: Sydney’s trash piles. Last year alone, Leonardo Urbano amassed a staggering 1,00,000 Australian dollars (Rs 56.20 lakh) by sifting through discarded items and uncovering hidden treasures.
Every morning, Urbano, 30, sets out on his bicycle or car, combing through the city's streets in search of discarded goods.
In Australia, local councils provide free rubbish pick-up services multiple times a year, leading residents to discard large items such as furniture and electronics. Urbano often finds valuable items in these piles, including Fendi bags, coffee machines, gold jewellery, and even wads of cash.
"When they want a new gadget, they buy a new one and throw away the old just because the battery may not be as good anymore," Urbano told CNBC. Many items need only a bit of cleaning or minor repairs before they can be sold.
Urbano brings his curbside finds back to his apartment, selecting a few items to keep or give away and selling the rest on platforms like Facebook Marketplace. Due to limited space, he tries to sell items within a week or two; if they don't sell, he gives them away to make room for new finds.
Recently, he sold a small Fendi bag for around $200. Urbano verifies the authenticity of luxury items by checking serial numbers on sites like Entropy and consulting friends who sell luxury goods.
The Dumpster diving life
Urbano's "dumpster diving" has attracted others to join him on his adventures. His impressive discoveries last year included over 50 television sets, 30 fridges, 20+ washing machines, 50 computers/laptops, up to 15 couches, 50 vacuums, 150+ pots and plants, 100+ lamps and decorative paintings, and $849 in cash.
He's been dumpster diving for four years, using his earnings to pay rent and furnish his apartment for free.
Among his most remarkable finds are a painting by two-time Archibald Prize finalist Dapeng Liu, valued at $3,000, an antique Victorian English centrepiece, and a $400 Italian coffee machine. He also hasn't needed to buy cleaning products for years, thanks to partially used bottles he finds when people move out. "So for years and years, I kept finding laundry detergent 30% to 40% full, so I will just bring it home," Urbano said.
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