What is Recycling?
Recycling is the process of converting waste materials into new materials and objects. The recyclability of a material depends on its ability to reacquire the properties it had in its original state.
Recycling can also prevent the waste of potentially useful materials and reduce the consumption of fresh raw materials. It thus lowers energy use, air pollution from incineration, and water pollution from landfills.
How is it done?
The recycling process consists of several phases. Let’s take, for example, the recycling of milk jugs. After purchasing a milk jug and drinking its content, the consumer puts the plastic jug in the well-known blue recycle bin. The jug goes to a recycling plant, where it undergoes the transformation process.
In the first phase, the jug is shredded into tiny plastic chips thoroughly washed. Then, the chips are further reduced in size in a granulating machine. The resulting material is called granules, which are fed into an extruder where they melt and pass through dies to make strings of warm plastic. After cooling in a water bed, the plastic strings are chopped into small pellets. They, in turn, are further mixed with virgin pellets and used to manufacture new milk jugs or other useful plastic containers.
Benefits of Recycling
- Reduces the amount of waste sent to landfills and incinerators
- Conserves natural resources such as timber, water, and minerals
- Increases economic security by tapping a domestic source of materials
- Prevents pollution by reducing the need to collect new raw materials
- Saves energy
- Supports American manufacturing and conserves valuable resources
- Helps create jobs in the recycling and manufacturing industries in the United States
What can be Recycled?
Almost all materials can be recycled: plastics and rubber, lumber and wood, paper and cardboard, glass, ferrous and non-ferrous metals, and even asphalt.
Picture courtesy of Examples Lab
Top 10 Recycled Materials in US
1 Concrete
2 Steel
3 Aluminum
4 PET plastics
5 Newspapers
6 Corrugated cardboard
7 HDPE plastics
8 Glass
9 Mixed paper
10 Used motor oil
Plastics Waste Recycling puts Money back into your Pocket
Are you a manufacturer of plastic products? If this is the case, Waste Recycling is the easiest and surest way to put money back into your pocket. Why? Because instead of throwing your manufacturing waste out of the door, you grind it and put it back into the machine hopper!
And how do you do it? Using one of our besides-the-press, versatile, economical, and sound-proof granulators. Check the sale price right now; you will be pleasantly surprised how affordable these money-saving machines are when you buy them from us!
Recycling Entrepreneurship
Can you make money from recycling? You bet you can! If you educate yourself, do proper research, and talk to experienced people, you can start and grow a very successful recycling business. And remember, because this is a high-growth industry, there is lots of capital available from banks and private investors, including government grants, loans, and incentives.
Here are a few examples of business opportunities in recycling.
Car Tire Recycling Business
There are millions of used tires awaiting to be recycled, and many more are coming onto the roads. This is an unending and cheap raw material stream for your tire recycling business. Get the tires, shred them into smaller pieces, then chop them into further smaller chips – and, voila, you have made rubber mulch! There is already a healthy market for this product, so you cannot go wrong.
What do you need to start the business? A small backyard, a few tens of thousands of dollars to buy equipment, a family member to work for you, and a strong desire to succeed.
Call today to discuss your tire recycling business plan with one of our technical specialists. We will guide you from a free evaluation of your idea to selecting and purchasing the equipment you need, even helping you finance your upstart operations.
Tree Removal Business
Are you already in the landscaping business and wish to expand your operations? Then you are perfectly positioned to add tree removal and shredding services to your portfolio.
You have to be careful, however. Tree removal is not an easy thing to do because there are real safety issues associated with it. Removing a tree requires special skills and know-how, an experienced crew, and plenty of liability insurance protection.
Besides your existing equipment, you may need to purchase a mobile tree shredding machine and perhaps a scissor lift or crane. This may require a few bucks for capital investment, but its return would be very pleasing to your accountant.
Foam Polystyrene Recycling
The process to recycle Expanded Polystyrene (aka EPS) foam is like that of other recyclables. In the case of foam products, a special compactor – called a “densifier” – may be used to process the material. Foam products are over 90% air, so densifying them allows the material to be transported more cost-effectively.
The availability of programs offering foam polystyrene recycling is growing across the U.S. and Canada. Also, there are grants and other finance facilities available.
Post-consumer and post-industrial foam PS is in demand due to its lower cost when compared to creating polystyrene from virgin materials. Recyclers sell foam PS in densified or pelletized form to brokers and reclaimers, who use the material to make new products like picture frames and crown molding. Click here for a directory of foam end markets in the U.S. and Canada.
What does it take to get into this business? An entrepreneurial spirit, knowledge of the industry, and start-up capital. Give us a call to discuss! 800-706-9316
