Side Hustle analysis: Recyclable collection
Collecting recyclables is pretty straight forward, you collect either plastic, aluminum, or glass and turn them into a recycling center to receive cash. It’s simple and relatively easy to do with things you buy around your house or apartment.
Personal Experience:
I started collecting recyclables as a side hustle in 2010 and have been doing it an on again, off again basis. One of the reasons I started was because I noticed that in my household both years ago and currently, we use many recyclables both coming from soft drinks (aluminum) and water (plastic). The process of starting was similar over the years. I started to accumulate both aluminum containers and plastic bottles in boxes in my garage. After a few months, boxes were starting fill and I added more boxes to hold more bottles. Once I could no longer continue to store bottles, I would take the boxes of bottles over to a recycling plant or a recycling center outside a local store. They would count my separate containers based on how much I had of each type and give me either cash or a voucher to redeem for cash.
Profitability:
Cashing in recyclables is a low profit activity. While it may help you turn some clutter into cash, it is a very small amount of cash for a lot of plastics, aluminum or glass. The most I ever earned from a single…
