20 Profitable Recycling Business Ideas & Opportunities Available Today

Opportunities can be dwelled from anywhere at any time by anyone. Many of present day business tycoons had started their business from scrap and from some bizarre ideas that now have helped them in earning billions of dollars. There is no limitation to ideas and when one applies the mind well he can become successful in it.

The present times have seen to be extremely successful for those who are trying their luck in the field of recycling business. As the population grows so is the demand for consumption of goods and so is there a rise in waste. In this article I have crafted most profitable and successful recycling business ideas and opportunities which you can start with low investment.

Recycling Business Opportunity 

The world at present generate 1.2 billion tons of MSW waste every year as of 2021 data, and it will continue to rise. It is predicted that by 2025 there will be 2.2 billion tons of MSW produced per year. The only thing we will have in abundance is waste in the times to come which can be utilised in a very strategic and useful way. Since more than a decade the world has started to ponder on the ways to reduce waste. Before we learn more about recycling of waste we need to classify waste and its types.

What is Waste and how it can be Useful?

Waste is something that is discarded because it has no further use. Waste is also something that is left at the end of process. Primarily there are two types of waste:-

• The first is biodegradable waste while the second is non-biodegradable waste. Biodegradable waste is non-toxic and can easily be composed without harming the nature or society. Example can be all organic matters like food waste, feces, plant waste and mostly all natural materials.
• On the other hand, non-biodegradable wastes are those that cannot be broken down using composition or other processes. They are more harmful and sometimes are toxic. For example, plastic waste, e-waste, PVC waste, and many more.

How Waste can be turned into Resources? 

Waste can be turned into resources by many ways. By going through the described process different types of wastes can be turned into profitable resources. There are some traditional techniques while there are many modern day technology that can help you in creating wealth out of waste.

There’s a common saying that if you have that mind you can turn anything into your favor. Same follows with waste. So now if we have understood waste and its importance we can now explore some ideas of how waste can be recycled and used as a profitable resource.

Here are 20 recycling business ideas that can be started with low capital

1. Plastic Recycling Business

Nearly 400-500 million tons of plastic waste is generated every year and only 10-20% waste is recycled leading to a rise in pollution. One can utilize this opportunity of recycling plastic waste. A plastic can be recycled to a certain stage by which one can not only earn good profit but also reduce waste from the society. Plastic waste recycling was be used to generate other plastic products like polythene, plastic bottles, plastic cans, tubs, buckets, and their likes. A time comes after certain round of recycle that the plastic cannot be utilized for human use. Even then one can use it in constructing roads by using it as an adherent.

2. Paper Recycling Business

Paper waste recycling is another such profitable recycling business venture where you can collect paper waste and recycle it using machines in small recycling unit. If the paper is still in healthy situation then one can use it in manufacturing of paper plates, paper envelopes, paper pockets and many more.

You can also treat the paper and then make other paper materials. There are different types of paper in terms of quality. The white paper is the supreme form of paper while the newspaper comes at later stage while tissue paper comes at the bottom stage. You can treat the paper pulp and then recycle it to manufacture papers for use.

3. PVC Recycling

Polyvinyl Chloride known as PVC is a synthetic and strong material used in manufacturing pipes, tanks, shades, and their likes. These PVCs after they are used can be recycled. For this you need a proper plant where PVC can be treated and is utilized in creation of goods. PVC can be melted using machines and can be shaped in the required form or directly used in manufacturing PVC goods of lower quality.

4. Carton Box Recycling Business

Carton Box is made of cardboard and is used as packaging material. Most of these carton boxes become useless after one use. One can collect these carton boxes and can recycle them using recycling machine. The only thing require is collection these cartoons which can be collected easily from scrap shops. You need a small processing plant and manufacturing machine for cardboard.

5. Scrap Metal Recycling

Scrap Metals are those metals that are left out as waste after usage. These metals are mostly useless for further use and can be used as waste for recycling purpose. What you need is a plant where you can process these scrap metals and then sell it at higher rates to other manufacturing houses so that they can use it for useful purpose. These metals are melted down and are given a shape of brick block so that it can easily be transported to metal industry for further prcessing. Recycling of metal scrap is most profitable among all recycling businesses.

6. Computer Recycling Business

Computer contains various components that are recycled based on their structure. A monitor screen can be recycled in a different way while a keyboard is recycled in a different way. The starting process is segregating them and classify them in different orders. Later based on what can be sold for further recycle and what can be recycled at your plant you can decide. Computer recycling is known to be eco-friendly as it stops the hazardous waste entering the atmosphere.

7. E-Waste Recycling

E-waste or electronic waste is the waste generated by electronic items like calculator, mobile phone, watches, remote, laptop, tablet and many more. These wastes are hazardous in nature and therefore should better be recycled. Processing E-waste is a very profitable business as many companies directly buy your recycled product at higher rates. What you purchased as waste can be sold as product at relatively higher rate. You just have to recycle them.

8. Aluminum Can Recycling

Aluminum Can are used generally for storing soft drinks, energy drinks and beer. Aluminum cans are hugely manufactured as they have huge requirements for storing drinks. These cans are of one time use and then are dumped. You can open a plant where you can recycle these aluminum cans. They are melted at an appropriate temperature and then are given the shape of cans. Selling these cans to the beverage companies can be a very successful business.

9. Battery Recycling

Batteries that can recharged are useful and are sold at good rates after usage. One can recycle them, change the inner parts like the zinc plates, service it and can resale them in the market. These rechargeable batteries are used in cars, invertor, factories, and business places. What is changed in these kind of batteries is the material through which the batteries work. Some of them are zinc, lead, silver, acid, lithium ion, and many more.

10. Food Waste Recycling

Food Waste can be collected and recycled for further use. These food wastes can primarily be used to feed cattle stock. Apart from this, these food wastes can be decomposed using anaerobic digester where the food waste is treated without oxygen. The waste turns into solid material and gas. From this biogas can be obtained while the remaining can be used as organic fertilizer. There is a huge demand of biogas in rural areas whereas organic fertilizers can easily be sold.

11. Tire Recycling

Tire is made up of rubber, nylon and carbon mixture. After a timely use these tires become weary and can be termed as waste. Burning these tires creates immense amount of air pollution. Recycling them is the best option. These tires can be melted at a particular temperature and from them new product can be manufactured. Most of them are sold in blocks after going through recycling process for further usage.

12. Glass Recycling

There are various categories of glass and they are for different usage. Recycling glass can be a profitable business opportunity given what type of glass you will manufacture in the last process. Glass waste is first segregated and then melted. Based on requirement and quality they are manufactured. Glasses used in crockery, windows, furniture, wind shield, motor vehicles are costly. Selling such glasses can give you desired profit.

13. Wood /Furniture Recycling

Recycling wood or wooden furniture isn’t that tough. First you need to dissemble all the parts assembled and then based on it you can reassemble them giving a desired shape. These weary furniture are groomed up, given required shape, polished and then assembled. Old furniture become relatively useless and can be best used by repairing it. A creative manufacturing can not only sell those old furniture but will also help you in earning good sum. You just need some excellent craftsmen along with materials required to manufacture the furniture.

14. Textile Recycling Business

Used and weary clothing can be recycled for further use. Some of them can be used by making small changes while some require through recycling. These textiles are first segregated based on type, then they are broken into pieces. Next step is recycling these textiles into small threading of different colors. Later by these threads one can manufacture different kinds of textiles. There are windows for types of cloths like cotton, polyester, nylon, georgette, and many more.

15. Recycling Solid Waste to Manufacture Bricks

Solid waste that is untreatable or non-biodegradable can be used in manufacturing bricks. What is required is a first step treatment of these wastes and then they are compressed hard. The compressed waste can be given a shape of brick. Later polishing can be done to ensure their quality for usage in construction. These bricks are relatively much stronger and have higher longevity and can be used in construction of house, laying on footpath or closed roads. These bricks can easily be sold at good price to the nearest construction house.

16. Water Recycling Plant

You can use waste water from your nearest locality from ponds, lakes or river and recycle it. Places where ground water is scarce, one can setup a recycling plant for treating waste water. The waste water can be treated using different kinds of filtering machine, desalination plant, using chemicals and reverse osmosis. The treated water with added minerals can be packed and sold to the public. This is one of the most successful recycling businesses as it required minimum investment but has greater returns.

17. Recycling Farm Waste

Recycling farm wastes like stubble, remains of crops, dry leaves and their likes can be a profitable business. Leaves can be used in making domestic plates extensively sold in Indian markets. Stubble can be used in manufacturing paper, cardboard, temporary shades and cartoon boxes. Stubbles can easily be available from agriculture land in a very cheap price. You can treat them as per requirement and sell the products mentioned at good price. Many Indian businesses have started buying stubbles from farmers and are using them in recycling.

18. Recycling Domestic Wastes for Creative Makings

Domestic wastes that may not be of our use can be used to make create items that can be sold at good prices. One can use bottles, cardboards, furniture, electric items, metals and many such wastes for creative use. Pen holder, hanger, pet bed, creative show piece, flower pot, hanging lamps, tables, chairs and many more. These items can be sold online. Important thing here is creativity, attractive design and great finishing.

19. Electric vehicle Battery Recycling

Electric vehicle is very popular now a days and as we all know that it runs on batteries. You can start a business of recycling batteries. The future is electric vehicle, year 2021 has seen exponential increase in electric car sales around the globe.

20. Recycling Utensils

Cooking utensils that are used in kitchen can be recycled when they grow old. These utensils can be recycled based on their type. Most utensils are made from stainless steel, aluminum, brass, cooper, iron, and many others. These items can be recycled in the plant mostly by melting and then manufacturing them. Either you can sell the recycled products to other utensil manufacturing company or you can manufacture such utensils on your own. They can give you huge returns if sold directly to the market.

If you want to start your own recycling business then above recycling ideas will help you in your venture. There is huge opportunity in recycling, all you have to do is to create a profitable business plan before you start. In next article, I will explain the process of recycling and detailed business plans for all 20 ideas.

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