Paper Recycling Business

Some "paper recyclers" are making more than $100,000 a year in this business. If other people are doing it, then there is no reason you cannot do it! About the only equipment you will need is a pickup truck or trailer that you can pull along be hind your personal car.

We even found one "old timer" who was collecting paper in this era with a pushcart! While interviewing him, we found that he was deliberately choosing not to expand, although he very definitely could have.

The prices being paid for paper these days by the recycling centers will astound you (and remember that the quotations we give here may have escalated sharply since our research).

For instance, old news papers are commanding $50 per ton and more; used cardboard, $75 a ton; and high grade office paper as much as $120 per ton. This kind of money for used paper that you can generally pick up for free can move you onto Easy Street in a hurry.

Everything, of course, depends on how well organized you are, and how hard you work at building your business.

Make no mistake about it, we live in a paper world. Americans use 200 million tons of paper each year - for everything from daily newspapers to books and cardboard boxes. After quick use, we throw away at least 100 million tons of this paper, almost all of which could be recycled.

This means that there's about 8 billion dollars worth of paper out there that can be collected and recycled each year. So if you are looking to start a business with real profit potential, what are you waiting for?

Just look around your own home. In the garage or basement, for instance. What do you do with the old newspapers after you've read them? How about all the mail you get each week?

Chances are this waste paper just piles up in some corner of the garage or basement until one of the kids asks if he can haul it off for the school or cub scout paper drive.

Or maybe your wife and kids get ambitious some weekend, clean out the garage and haul it all off to the collection truck at one of the local shopping centers. (We said maybe!)

It's true that selling stacks of newspapers you've accumulated during the past couple of months or so won't make you rich. In fact, it's doubtful your own accumulation of paper will add up to a ton a year, and that certainly won't amount to much in extra income.

But think about the tonnage involved in the stacks of old newspapers you could collect from your relatives, friends and neighbours. You could easily collect a l00-pound sack of old newspapers from the people in your neighbourhood each week - and that's your immediate neighbourhood.

And then think about the total extra income you would have when you have hauled all this paper down to the recycling depot. If you're serious, and get yourself properly prepared, you can easily make $300 or more every weekend, and it won't involve all your time. Some planning and effort on your part are the prime requisites.

Start by clearing a space in your garage for storage. One side of a two-car garage, or any 8 by 12 foot space should be sufficient. If you have a garden shed that's dry, that would work well also. Some paper collectors even rent space in a neighbourhood mini-warehouse.

We've even seen some paper collectors store their collected paper on pallets in their backyards, using tarpaulins over it to keep it dry. The important thing is to have a space available to store your collected paper until you're ready to haul it to the recycling depot.

Being a firm believer in doing as little as possible of the physical work involved in any business, I recommend you hire people to do a lot of this for you. By that I mean you should contact all the cub scouts, girl scouts, and civic organizations in your area; tell them you'll pay them money for the paper they collect and turn in to you.

At the same time, contact the counsellors at the schools and colleges in your area and tell them you'll pay them for all the paper they collect. The idea is to get everyone in your area collecting paper for you, eliminating the need to do the actual collecting yourself.

How much of the gross profit you allow or pay these people who do the actual collection is up to you. The average rate is $25 to $30 per ton when you are getting $50 per ton.

In the beginning, you may have to make up a sign and tape it to the side of your pick-up or car, and "pound the pavement" yourself, but you would expect to do this in starting any business.

Basically, there's nothing to this excepting that it takes time you could be using to do other things; but is there anything more important than getting your new business "off the ground?"

A simple sign such as JOE'S PAPER RECYCLING SERVICE - Phone 123-4567, is about all that's necessary. You could have this made up on a magnetic mat at most quick print shops.

Have a college art student make one up for you on butcher paper, or have a professional sign painter produce one for you on heavy card stock.

With this sign on the side of your pickup, car, or trailer, simply drive through the residential neighbourhoods of your area. Park in the middle of a block, get out and start knocking on doors, asking the residents if they have old newspapers or cardboard boxes they would like for you to haul away for them.

Generally, you will get an armload of old newspapers at every house. Simply carry them to your pickup or trailer, then go on to the next house.

If you'll set up a definite route to follow, certain streets on certain days about once every two weeks, you'll find the homeowners will have stacks of paper waiting for you. Regardless of whether the person answering the door gives you a stack of papers, always leave a business card at each home.

Some paper recyclers offer to pay the people saving newspapers for them, and having it ready for them when they make their collection rounds. Generally, this isn't necessary. If you'll develop regular collection days for each street or neighbourhood, you'll find the people putting papers out for you just as they set out their garbage for collection.

If you will set up a definite route to follow, certain streets on certain days about once every two weeks, you will find the homeowners will have stacks of paper waiting for you. Regardless of whether the person answering the door gives you a stack of papers, always leave a business card at each home.

Some paper recyclers offer to pay the people saving newspapers for them, and having it ready for them when they make their collection rounds. Generally, this is not necessary. If you will develop regular collection days for each street or neighbourhood, you will find the people putting papers out for you just as they set out their garbage for collection.

Even some paper recyclers charge the people to haul their paper away. This is not advisable, because once you start hauling rubbish; you will end up doing clean-up work, and hauling more to the dump than you do to the recycling depot.