Read about the top business ideas for recycling plastic. Learn how to start a plastic recycling business and make money from it.
Business Ideas For Recycling Plastic: You may think you’re going out of your way to being environmentally friendly by recycling, but here’s the truth: it’s not enough!
Business Ideas For Recycling Plastic
There are so many different ways plastic can be reused or repurposed, but we’re going to focus on eight of the best business ideas for recycling plastic that we could find. It’s time to put those old plastics back into action and make some money while you do it!
Milk jugs
Don’t have time to take them to a recycling bin? Milk jugs are made of high-density polyethylene plastic that is durable enough to be reused as storage containers, plant pots, lids, mixing bowls, and more. Start an idea market on eBay or Etsy where you sell milk jug crafts. You can put your own designs on there or get custom orders from people who like what you make.
You might even find yourself starting a mini business of your own by eventually selling online rather than at craft fairs. The great thing about milk jugs is they’re so inexpensive; it doesn’t cost much to buy them in bulk (around 50 cents per gallon) and their size makes shipping inexpensive too. That means with very little startup capital, you could end up making money hand over fist with these things!
Also, consider using these when decorating for parties and holidays! They work great as vases or centerpieces! They also work well for holding snacks when entertaining guests at home! Just drill some holes in one side, fill it up with whatever snack foods you want (granola bars, nuts, etc.), and then screw on another cap through one of those holes. No mess! The possibilities are endless when it comes to reusing these things around your house!
Beverage Bottles
Drinking water from plastic water bottles has been linked to a variety of health problems, including weight gain and even cancer. Rather than buying new beverages in plastic containers, think about reusing those old bottles. If you’re carrying around an empty bottle throughout your day, you’ll naturally want to fill it up at every opportunity. Take old bottles with you on errands or when you visit friends; they’ll be happy to refill them if they can.
Over time, you’ll have used dozens of single-use plastic bottles that would otherwise have ended up in a landfill or floating around in our oceans and waterways. One word of caution: Be sure to thoroughly clean out your used containers before filling them again. You don’t want to introduce harmful bacteria into your drinking water. Check out these 10 tips for cleaning plastics safely.
Fruit Juice Containers
Did you know that fruit juice manufacturers use over 12 billion pounds of plastic each year to package their drinks? Most of these plastic containers are never recycled, which is bad news for both your health and our environment. In order to bring awareness to the issue, start a business where you collect used fruit-juice containers from families and deliver them to an appropriate recycling center on a weekly basis.
Be sure to give customers tips on how they can recycle more at home. Not only will you be helping protect our planet, but you’ll also make some money while doing it! This could also be expanded into other household items such as cans, plastic wrap, etc. The possibilities are endless! It may not seem like much, but when done properly and regularly, yard work makes a huge difference in how attractive and valuable your property is.
Even if you have just a small patch of grass in front of your house or apartment building, mowing regularly will ensure that your yard looks good all summer long—and keep those unsightly weeds under control too! Best of all: It’s easy to get started with little investment required upfront. If you don’t own any lawn equipment yet (you really should consider buying something), ask friends or neighbors if they need help with their lawns before investing in equipment yourself.
Yogurt Cups
While you might be used to throwing away #5 plastics—water bottles, yogurt cups, detergent containers—you can turn these into cash at a scrapyard. (You can also recycle these types of plastics with curbside pickup.) How much? It varies by market, but you could collect around 15 cents per pound. That’s nothing to write home about—until you consider that Americans go through more than 17 billion yogurt cups a year!
While it will take some time and effort to make recycling your favorite food packaging worthwhile, reusing helps keep waste out of landfills and reduces our reliance on resources like oil and water. And as an added bonus, you’ll help create green jobs in your community. Just one small change can have a big impact. Start today!
How does recycling work? It’s simple: At its most basic level, recycling is all about taking something old and making something new from it.
When we separate recyclables from trash and send them off to different places, we are doing just that—making something new from something old. We call those places recycling facilities or material recovery facilities (MRFs). Materials like plastic film get sorted at MRFs using machinery called optical sorters; other materials are sorted manually using screens or magnets called eddy current separators.
Sandwich Bags
Did you know that there are actually businesses out there that collect recyclable plastic? The most popular items recycled are chips, pretzels, and candy wrappers. You might be wondering where to start your business or how you can get started with such a unique idea. Here are 8 great business ideas that use plastics! The first step is to decide what type of plastic you want to focus on. This will help you determine which companies in your area would buy from you.
Some common types of plastic include milk jugs, shampoo bottles, chip bags, and soda bottles. Once you’ve decided what type of plastic to sell, here are some great ways to make money off it:
Chips/Pretzel Bags: Companies love buying these because they can be sold easily at gas stations or grocery stores since they already have holes in them so customers can carry them around easier. Another benefit is that if they aren’t filled with food, they could also be used as pencil cases or bags for other small items!
Chips, Pretzels, and Candy Wrappers
A lot of thought goes into making candy. But you probably never gave a second thought to what happens after you eat it. Packaging like plastic bags, bubble wrap, and cardboard boxes get tossed into trash cans or recycled bins—but that’s not where they end up staying.
In fact, only about 3% of all packaging from candy ends up getting recycled because most of it is made from non-recyclable materials like wax paper or hard plastics that have very little value once they leave your hands.
Of course, recycling itself isn’t a bad thing—but there are opportunities to increase its efficiency and to do more with used packaging materials than simply recycling them…Read on for 8 great business ideas for recycling plastic! In-House Processing: Rather than sending your leftover wrappers to be recycled by a third-party company, why not process them yourself?
After all, every ton of recycled material can be turned into $700 worth of new products—and if you don’t outsource processing (like Staples does), those profits could stay in-house. All it takes is some in-house machinery (which will cost you around $250 per ton) and an employee whose job description now includes a plastic wrapper separator.
Selling off excess material: Sure, recyclers will buy almost anything (think about how many weird objects you’ve seen for sale at scrap yards), but how much can they really pay?
Condiment Bottles
Condiment bottles are not just for ketchup and mustard. There are bottles available that can hold olive oil, balsamic vinegar, soy sauce, and other liquids you use regularly when cooking. If you’re going to be dicing a lot of vegetables in your kitchen or frying something on your stovetop, consider buying some of these bottles. In addition to saving space and money by reducing waste from water and soap bottles, condiment containers are also fun.
They come in different colors and shapes that can add an artistic touch to your kitchen table or countertop. It won’t be long before guests start asking about where you bought these unique condiment containers! When it comes time to toss them out, make sure you recycle them. This is important because they often contain BPA (bisphenol A), which is a chemical used in plastics and can leach into food. When recycling your old condiment bottles, make sure they go into a plastic recycling bin (not with glass).
When it comes time to replace them with new ones, buy recycled versions whenever possible so you don’t contribute more plastic to landfills. Some brands like Relentless Earth sell products made from recycled plastic. These products might cost more than non-recycled versions but if recycling is important to you then consider buying them as replacements for that old bottle of ketchup and mustard at home.
Single-Use Plastic Grocery Bags
A single-use plastic grocery bag has a short lifespan: About 2 percent of bags get recycled and some number of bags litter streets and clog waterways. Unsurprisingly, marine life is often stuck in these discarded bags, either suffocating or becoming tangled in them and dying. If you’re an eco-conscious shopper looking to cut down on plastic pollution, consider bringing your own reusable shopping bag.
Not only will you reduce your use of waste-displacing plastics but you might also save some money by reducing how much you spend on bags over time. And if you don’t have enough space in your car for a large, sturdy bag that can hold heavy items like cans of soup, try using a collapsible cloth bag instead. These lightweight bags are more flexible than traditional canvas totes—and they take up less space when not in use.
Also Read: Business Ideas For Real Estate
Conclusion
So now you have 8 great business ideas to recycle plastic. Before deciding on a recycling plastic business, first, ask yourself if it’s something you can make profitable.
If so, go ahead and start your own recycling business. Hopefully, your new recycled plastic business idea is as successful as possible! Good luck with your new business!
