Most contracts allow the municipality to drop off a truckload of recyclables, namely cardboard, paper, aluminum, rigid plastics and glass, at the recycling company at no cost. In addition, it is expected that the municipality will also share in revenue earned from the sale of the recyclables after the recycling company has covered its processing costs.
The result: In good times when there is strong demand for all commodities, everyone wins. However, when the there is a lack of a market for a specific commodity, even while all the other commodity types maintain strong markets, the economics of the recycling company can be threatened. In this scenario, the municipality still benefits because even without any earned revenue for its recyclables, it still saves money by recycling because it avoids the alternative cost of sending the material to a landfill.
The recycling company, however, has to incur the loss of selling the commodity for less than the processing costs, or worse, the cost of sending the commodity to landfill if there is no market. This includes the cost of advanced machinery that separates each material and the labor to run the machinery. The good news is that the near-term and historical average price for recycled cardboard, paper aluminum and rigid plastics is above the processing cost and therefore profitable to recycle.
The bad news is that recycled glass, on the other hand, currently lacks a robust end-market. Therefore, the recycling of glass results in a significant loss for the recycling company and often erases any profits earned by the recycling company. Building Credit. Cash-Back Cards. Credit Cards. Actively scan device characteristics for identification. Use precise geolocation data. Select personalised content. Create a personalised content profile. Measure ad performance.
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Personal Finance. Your Practice. Popular Courses. Table of Contents Expand. Wine Corks. Gift Cards. Cooking Oil. Tennis Balls. Human Hair. The Bottom Line. Is a plastic recycling business profitable? Which recycling business is most profitable? How do recycling companies make money? Can you make money from recycling plastic? How do I start a small recycling business?
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Here are 7 of the best future industries to work in. Finding clients for your industry plays a key part in ensuring your business model will thrive. Read on for advice on making these vital connections. Yes, recycling plants make money recycling plastic, fabric, glass and scrap metal, but it is an ever-changing business with spiking costs.
As of , the recycling industry employed more than 1. Unfortunately, most waste in America is thrown away rather than recycled, and that proves to be much more costly. Recycling plants tend to make the majority of their money transforming used plastic, cardboard and metal into sellable products like bottles and sheets of metal.
This can be lucrative when you consider the fact that a million recycled cell phones produces 35, pounds of scrap copper, pounds of silver and 75 pounds of gold. According to the Environmental Protection Agency, about 2. These are either used and sold as secondhand products, are transformed into cleaning cloths and rags or are used to create things like mattresses, fiberglass and upholstery. If clothes are donated, the sale is entirely profit after staffing and overhead costs.
In fact, it is so nonlucrative that some plastic recycling businesses are considering nixing mixed plastics altogether because they are not worth processing. As a rule, cans and corrugated cardboard are worth much more, and mixed plastics may not even be worth the effort both economically and environmentally.
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