Would a private pick-up service for recycling be a viable business?

Question

In the city where I live there is no pick-up service for recycling. Do you think it could make a viable business to provide this service for a fee?

Answer 1

Interesting idea. You might even be able to get a federal grant for an idea like that. Seriously, you should check ...

http://www.sbirworld.com

I've helped get grants for worse ideas!

Follow up ... I've seen that you're getting some negative responses. This really is an interesting idea, and I believe it can be profitable, if done correctly.

Answer 2

Umm...I'll go ahead and say what will be a response that will most likely get some flaming.

Recycling is a joke. It costs ~$8 to transport trash to the dump and ~$20 to recycle goods. That, plus much of the 'recycling' out there is simply sent to the dump for those reasons. Don't believe me? Check out the Penn&Teller Bulls@*t episode on recycling.

I realize that monetary reasons aren't a reason not to recycle, I was just expressing the fact that while you might able to generate some bank doing this, you'll end up running into a heck of a lot of problems.

Where is your closest recycling facility?
How many pounds/tons of recycling can your vehicle hold?
What is the gas cost/depreciation on your car for every trip to the recycling center?

That doesn't even begin to take into account the time/gas cost of driving around to a bunch of houses that more than likely won't be near each other because...why would I pay to recycle when I can just throw it away with not extra cost? You'd get clients, just not that many.

Good luck though if you decide to do it, the world needs more people that want to save it.

Answer 3

Not sure you can do it for a fee, but find out how much you'd get at the recycling depot for the recycling, how much they pay for plastic, paper, and glass. Then figure out how much you could put in your car, van or truck. Just use a basic volume formula.

Then see if it'd be worth your while, it might be or might not be.

But if you start from scratch this way, it's the least amount of investment, and if it works you can grow it, then look to charge a fee, to your city.

The other option is to go to you city hall and ask if they have a budget set aside for paying a recycling service if you start one.

Answer 4

I believe that, if done properly, and with careful planning, you can make money at just about anything. There are many questions and scenarios that you need to consider before you venture, however.

How much would you charge? (do a survey of potential customers--see if they would want the service and how much they'd be willing to pay)

How often would you charge? (monthly would probably be too much of a burden, i.e. who wants to write a check for less than $10?--charge quarterly, it would be simpler for everyone involved)

Advertisement? (I would suggest an ad in the yellow pages next to the trash companies--have your company name and number printed on the recepticles)

Charge for recepticles? (rental fee--with a discount if they provide their own? give the customers parameters for their own--you want them to be some what uniform)

Unfortunately, the list goes on and on.... hence, the reason for a business plan. Even if you plan to do this on a small scale and don't need a plan for financing... you should do the business plan for yourself, so you know all the answers and won't have any "surprises".

Happy Self-Employment and Good Luck!

Answer 5

it would depend on how the people react to it. I know that we pay the city a fee for picking up ours, but it is only a few dollars a month. To be able to make a profit, you would either have to carge an arm and a leg, or make a lot of stops. And that kind of work can be back breaking. you will also have to take into account, what you are going to do with the utems, how you are going to transport them, and if you would need more help. everythign costs money, and I don't think most people will be willing to fork it over.

Answer 6

in the US, the likely answer is 'no'.

afaik, every city that has such a service operates it at a loss AND does so with the advantages of zero rent, zero property taxes, and zero profits taxes.

prices for the commodities you'll produce most simply aren't high enough to provide a reasonable profit.

:(

Answer 7

Write a business plan

Answer 8

Yes it would