Blog - How to make money "out of nothing"
Business on the trash: how to make money "out of nothing"
Garbage is a unique resource: they are ready to pay both for its acquisition and for sale. Moreover, it is inexhaustible. Each inhabitant produces 300-400 kg of household waste. This means that a city with a population of 1 million people accounts for 300-400 tons of garbage per year. And over time, this number increases. This is the basis of the business idea.
Relevance of the garbage business
In US, a huge amount of household waste has accumulated, requiring urgent disposal. Currently, only 1% of solid garbage is processed in the country, and more than 31 billion tons remain unused. Of these billions of tons, about 60% are recyclable and recyclable. Such raw materials include paper, metal, glass, polymers, etc. But garbage continues to pile up in landfills and pollute the environment. Today, the issue of waste disposal, which has become an environmental problem, is discussed at all levels - and, nevertheless, has not yet been resolved. The problem of garbage disposal in the 21st century seems ridiculous because at every stage of the process you can make money from almost nothing.
Not so long ago, the garbage bin business was not considered highly profitable. But now the situation has changed dramatically. Throughout the territory of our country there is a huge number of landfills that need to be cleaned. The small number of processing plants operating in USA does not cope with the scale of work.
A business idea based on waste recycling will not lose its relevance while mankind will produce it. And this process is unlikely to stop while we live as a consumer society.
Advantages and disadvantages of the garbage business
Often in business articles on garbage processing, there is an opinion that this area is with a low level of competition, but this is far from the case. The fact that there are few participants in the segment does not mean that few people want to engage in waste recycling. This means that not everyone can get into it.
It has been in force, which regulates the procedure for the collection and disposal of waste. According to him, certain territories will be served not by commercial organisations, but by regional operators. They are selected on a competitive basis in the last quarter of the year for 10 years. In their competence: to coordinate the work of the management company, organise the collection, transportation, storage and processing of garbage. This law leads to the centralisation of business, which aggravates competition. Large players will fight for the place of the regional operator, and medium and small players will fight for survival. These processes are for new entrants, but will create higher requirements for beginners.
At the same time, it cannot be said that there is no place for new players in the sphere. You can start your own business, but the market has its own specifics, which may be complicated by changes in legislation. Therefore, those who want to open such a business in the trash bins need to constantly keep their finger on the pulse and carefully study everything that happens on the market. You should communicate with other market participants, analyse the actions of competitors, attend events organised by ministries, the executive branch, etc.
Why it is worth starting a business on the trash?
- Relevance. It can be seen in almost every aspect, starting with the fact that it benefits the environment and ending with the fact that this business brings great profit to the owner.
- Support from local authorities. This area is poorly financed, so local authorities can assist you in organizing your business.
- Unlimited stocks of raw materials.
- High profitability of the business, which is 60-70%.
- The ability to start with small volumes. Even if you do not have the financial ability to build a waste recycling plant, you can limit yourself to a small workshop. It does not require large investments, but at the same time brings a decent profit, which will further develop the business.
What difficulties can you encounter?
- High investment. Equipment for even a small solid waste processing workshop is quite expensive.
- Bureaucracy. Difficulties may arise at the stage of obtaining permits from regulatory authorities, as well as with the sale of processed raw materials from garbage. There are many bureaucratic difficulties to build an enterprise and work legally: licenses, permission, allocation of a sanitary zone, preparation of a project and other nuances make the process of starting a business a laborious and lengthy process.
- High competition. You should not organise your business in the garbage in regions where there are already similar enterprises. In this case, it will be almost impossible to overcome competition.
- No garbage sorting. In US, there is a specific problem - there is no preparatory waste sorting and separate waste collection, which greatly complicates the entire processing process. In order to prepare the raw materials for processing, the enterprise will need many workers to sort household waste, and this is already unprofitable for doing business. Of course, there are automatic garbage sorting lines, but such expensive equipment is not available to every businessman.