Plastic / Waste Recycling in Nigeria

Waste Recycling Business Plan – Plastic recycling business is one that has not gotten much awareness in Nigeria and only a few people are currently into the business.  This is almost unbelievable seeing that this is a lucrative business and considering the rate at which the populace of the country drink bottled water, fruit juice and consume things out of plastic containers, there are tons of plastic bottles and containers lying around waiting to be picked up and turned into something meaningful.

The major factor dissuading most people who have thought about going into the plastic recycling business is the capital.  Capital is very necessary for any business and plastic recycling business is not left out. While some businesses can only be started with a huge capital, others can be started with a small capital, however plastic recycling business is really capital intensive and has to be started with a lot of capital. To start a business of plastic recycling you need to have around 25 million Naira that is approximately $84,000. You might say that’s a too much but that’s exactly the point and the reason why a lot of people will rather not get involved in the business.  It is pretty expensive to set up a plastic recycling factory and to buy all the necessary equipments, machines and materials needed for the recycling in addition to hiring and paying staff as well as the general maintenance of the factory. That’s a lot yeah. Well,  we have good news and that is that there is actually a way to start small in the industry without necessarily setting up a factory. The method is by gathering the plastic containers and distributing them to people who have already set up their factory for plastic recycling at a fee.  You can also be involved in the distribution of the recycled plastics to destinations where they are needed.  This way you are very much involved as well as gathering experience which is very important for when you start up your own plastic recycling factory.

Plastic / Waste Recycling Business Plan – Feasibility Study

Knowledge is very necessary for any business venture you want to go into.  Otherwise how would you know what to do to make the business successful. You have to make sure that you are fully aware of every area and aspect of the business, the likely challenges you will encounter and how to surmount them. Do not fail to do this for your plastic recycling business, as this principle applies to every business venture, plastic recycling included.

In this article we are going to focus on the gathering and the distribution or  supply of plastic recyclables to factories where they would be recycled. We will be discussing helpful tips right from where you can find the plastics for recycling, the right plastics to get and many more.

You cannot just go on to gather plastics that the plastic recycling factories might not accept. You need to be sure on exactly which plastic is required and the type of plastic that is mostly required for recycling by the plastic recycling factories in Nigeria is the Polyethylene Terephthalate (PET). These are very popular and not difficult to find at all.  They are found almost everywhere in the country. They are those plastics used in the packaging of bottle water, soft drinks and most carbonated drinks. They are the preferred plastics by the recycling companies because they are very easy and simple to recycle. Upon recycling, they can be used in the manufacturing of new plastic bottles and containers, life jackets, bags, ropes, combs, etc.

So now you know the type of plastics that are mostly required by plastic recycling companies in the country, you need to craft a method that will make the gathering and collecting of the plastic containers very easy. There are different ways you can gather them and we are going to discuss some of them with you.

One of the most common way of gathering or collecting plastic containers especially plastic bottles is by constructing or purchasing small pushable metal trucks and giving it to some people to push around and collect the plastics that are lying around. Of course you have seen some people pushing these kind of trucks around for other reasons so yes, you can enlist their services. Their work will be to be pushing the trucks from street to street gathering as much plastic bottles as they can find which will not be difficult as people are in the habit of littering the streets with them. When they have gathered enough for the day or when their truck is full they will then go to a venue you have already marked out to offload them. After which they get paid. They can go for as many times in a day as possible or that they feel up to.  The method of payment is usually wages. That is they are usually paid daily and not monthly.  So you pay depending on how much of the plastics one is able to gather for the day. You can ascertain that by weighing what they offload.  Normally 20 Naira per kilogram of plastics.  So you’ll multiply that with as many kilograms of plastics that they are able to turn in for the day.

Another method you can use for collecting plastic bottles is by noting event centres that are always in business or even any event centre at all. Events involve a lot of drinking of both water and other drinks which most times comes in plastic bottles. These bottles are littered around after every event and even gives the cleaners a tough time.  So you could just have an arrangement with the  cleaners, security staff, or even the organisers of the occasion to allow you collect the plastics.  Most times they would let you take them for free or you pay a very small amount. All that you’ll have to do then is get some people to bag them and take them to a location of your choice.

In addition you can collect these plastic bottles from restaurants and fast-foods. Ofcourse food at restaurants and fast foods are served with water and drinks which of course come in plastic bottles most of the time. Now think of all the fast food joints and restaurants in your neighborhood and even beyond and you’ll know that you are in business.  All you need to do is have an arrangement with the cleaners or something of the staff and all plastic bottles will be reserved for you to come pickup. Although most times you’ll have to pay but it’ll just be a very small amount.

These are just a few methods there are a whole lot of other ways. You could make deals with schools, estates and other establishments, Just be very observant and take note of places where you can get the plastic bottles in large quantities and you’ll sure get them.  It is even more than just gathering plastic waste because you are contributing towards making the country clean and making money at the same time.  It is a win win for everyone.

Gathering the plastic bottles is one thing, getting them to the recycling factories and making the most out of them is actually a whole different ball game but as always we are here with very helpful tips to help you get through.

There is a major factor that makes people involved in gathering plastic wastes and taking them to the plastic recycling companies to incur losses and make little profit. Some have even opted out of the business and that reason for this is the cost of transportation.  The plastics has to be transported from the place you are gathering them to your  personal dump site, from where you will then move them to the plastic recycling business of your choice. This can be overwhelming especially when the plastics are in very large quantities and of not handled properly you’ll find yourself making little to no profit after the plastic recycling factories have paid you. There are ways to avoid this and maximize profits and that’s what we will bring to your attention now.

Upon gathering the plastics there is still a ton of work to be done before it can even be close to recycling. If you just collect and gather these plastics and then proceed to dump them at the plastic recycling factories exactly the way you collected them, you will be paid for just the plastics that you delivered and nothing more.  This is because the bulk of the work will still be done by the recycling companies so why should they pay you more when they still have so much expenses to make on the plastics before it can be recycled and also putting into consideration the fact that they (the plastic recycling company) are also out for profit. So to improve your revenue you need to make what you are supply to have more value.

One of the ways to achieve this is by sorting the bottles. By sorting you have added the first value so if you would have been paid 25 naira per kg for the plastics you delivered without sorting, you will then be paid between 30 naira to 40 naira per kg for sorting because you have added value. Hope it makes sense now.

Moving on,  you can go ahead to add more value by cleaning the plastic bottles. The amount you will be paid has just increased and you are now looking at being paid between 40 naira to 45 naira per kg.  It sounds so much better than  25 naira per kg right?  Yeah we know.

So you see,  the more you get done on the plastics before sending them to the plastic recycling companies, the more value you are adding to them and the more value you are adding to them, the more you will be paid and the more money you are paid,  the better your profit.  Sure by now you get our drift.

But that’s not all you can do to the plastics to add value, we still have some more helpful tips.

When you are done with the sorting and cleaning you can increase value by compressing the plastics into smaller sizes by using a baling and cutting machine.  You can still go ahead to grind the plastics you have already baled and just like that you’ll be paid much more.  So instead of getting the normal 25 naira per kg you’ll now be looking at 60 naira to 75 naira per kg. That way profit has been maximised.  The only challenge here is that you’ll have to purchase a baling and grinding machine which goes for about $3000 to $8000 on Alibaba.

The fact that you’ll be paid more after baling and grinding does not mean that you should be reckless with the cost for transportation.  You should still try to transport the plastics by cheap yet effective means so that you can maximize profit.

Another important thing we have to point out is that you need to have as much knowledge about the business as possible and one of the best ways to achieve this is by writing a business plan.  That way every angle and aspect will be thoroughly captured because of the research and you will be better equipped to run the business successfully.