Waste recycling plant as a business

Waste recycling is a relevant business idea due to the demand for direction and the freedom of a market niche. The amount of municipal solid waste is increasing every year, and the problem of garbage disposal is becoming more and more difficult to solve. In Russia, the share of their recycling accounts for only five to seven percent, the rest of the garbage is simply buried, causing irreparable harm to the environment. It is clear that the existing waste processing plants do not cope with the task, so the entrance to this market is open to everyone.

The general concept of the business – how do garbage plants earn

Garbage plants are engaged in the disposal and processing of garbage.

Moreover, they can specialize in:
• processing of chemical waste;
• recycling of solid waste — paper, wood, plastic, textiles, metal, glass.

The income of such enterprises just depends on the type of waste processed and the raw materials obtained. So, for example, ferrous and non-ferrous metals, as well as glass, chemicals – building and industrial materials become the result of the disposal of electronic waste. Having established the sale of raw materials, the entrepreneur receives a profit that can increase several times with the right approach. But first you need to choose a direction of activity from all possible options.

Modern waste recycling technologies

The simplest option without large investments is to collect garbage from the population and transport it to a landfill. Implementation involves the conclusion of an agreement with the owner of the latter and the purchase of specialized vehicles capable of capturing garbage containers. The advantage of the idea is that, being a carrier, you do not have to deal with the issues of waste disposal and storage.

The second way to earn money is a point for pressing solid waste to reduce the volume, which reduces the cost of their delivery to waste processing plants, and the entrepreneur receives a profit of one hundred to two hundred percent. Clients – the population, small points for the collection of plastic, waste paper and aluminum cans.

The third option is to receive waste from collectors with subsequent placement and storage at the landfill. To do this, you will need to go through a series of procedures with taking soil samples, installing a protective embankment, geological surveys, etc. The life of the site is up to twenty years, but the responsibility for analyzing the environmental situation lies with the owner even after its closure.

The fourth way is a waste collection and sorting enterprise. It involves the installation of separate labeled containers of different colors on site and transportation of waste to a recycling company. To save on the purchase of tanks, you can organize your own sorting line for waste brought by utilities. In this case, it is advisable to also engage in the processing of solid waste.

Among the modern technologies for waste disposal as a business line are the following:

1. Waste incineration at a plant equipped with advanced technology. The disadvantage is that its construction requires a lot of time and investment. Before burning, garbage is sorted, removing metal and plastic components, batteries. Pluses – in the almost complete absence of unpleasant odors, a low proportion of toxic substances released into the atmosphere, the possibility of obtaining a powerful energy and thermal resource base.
   This is especially true when using the pyrolysis technology with the decomposition of compounds into constituent elements. The synthesis gas released as a result of combustion becomes fuel for reactors. And the enterprises themselves can operate for a couple of decades with an average payback of 4 years. But the incineration method requires the mandatory disposal of ash in special storage facilities due to the content of mercury, impurities of heavy metals and dioxides.
2. Backfilling of waste with a layer of earth and clay for 10-30 years in order to synthesize gases – hydrogen sulfide, methane, nitrogen, oxygen, hydrogen, carbon dioxide. The resulting gas is used to produce fuel, electricity, steam and heat. To implement the idea, deep pits are needed with installed pumping equipment that transfers the resulting gaseous substances to industrial enterprises.
3. Plasma processing of waste according to the principle of processing the mass with high temperatures until it passes into a gaseous state. The technology involves the distillation of waste into steam to produce electricity, environmentally friendly slag and non-pyrolyzable residues for recycling in industrial purposes. Such plants have a closed cyclic operation and do not require preliminary sorting and preparation of waste. This is the safest and most innovative method of MSW disposal.
4. Composting for the recycling of materials of organic origin: food residues, paper and vegetation. The method consists in forming special heaps of different sizes with their turning over once a day, once a month, once a year, and so on, depending on the duration of the compost creation. The resulting product is used as a fertilizer to saturate the soil during cultivation and planting.

The production of raw materials for recycling through recycling is the most promising line of business with the possibility of recycling various wastes:

• tires – tires are pyrolyzed to gas, carbon, synthetic oil, and the cord is delivered to scrap metal collection points. The resulting raw material is a source of energy for industry;
• glass – in processed form is delivered to glass factories or factories for the manufacture of ceramic products;
• plastic – in crushed form is melted down to obtain granules used by companies producing packaging containers, films, panicles, car body parts;
• construction waste with residual elements of brick, concrete, wood, metal – after sorting, it is ground into crushed stone for use in the road and construction industry;
• waste paper – recycled to produce toilet and packaging paper, roofing materials.

Is it possible to count on subsidies from the state

One of the notable features of this business is that the state and various funds subsidize part of the costs of opening a waste production facility, since waste processing enterprises are included in the strategic plan for the development of urban entities. Therefore, in addition to your own money, you can count on investments from funds and subsidies from the government of the region or the city administration.

How to open a waste recycling plant

To launch a business idea, you will need a step-by-step plan with calculations and elaboration of organizational issues, as well as the following resources:

• starting capital investments from 25 million rubles;
• a plot of land for the location of production;
• technical conditions for summing up water and gas supply, electricity;
• working vehicles for collecting and transporting waste;
• technological equipment of production lines;
• trained staff.

As you can see, the waste recycling business is an expensive area with many nuances. To start the process of waste collection and disposal, you will need to: raise funds, obtain approval and support from local authorities and the leadership of the region, rent a plot of land and provide conditions for connecting to communications, build a complex and equip it with the necessary equipment, train employees and find a market for secondary products .

Analysis of competition and the current situation in a particular region

Sannorms prescribe the presence of a place for collecting household waste in each settlement, and the environmental situation requires the construction of waste processing plants near every city with a population of one hundred thousand people. In practice, such production facilities are far from being everywhere, so it makes sense to study the market situation in a particular region, and, based on the result, choose a business format.

Only a local solid waste landfill or a similar waste plant can compete, but the way out of the situation will be the use of new processing technologies that are different from the competitor. Although such an enterprise is unlikely to appear due to the interest of regional authorities in the implementation of the project. The main target audience will be individuals, farms, industrial enterprises of the city.

Preliminary cost-benefit analysis

The productivity of the enterprise is determined by the capacity of the line and the type of waste. When predicting profitability, double profit is taken into account: when receiving solid waste and when selling recyclables. At the same time, the peculiarity of production is that both the raw materials used and the finished materials bring only income without expenses. But only a third of the received waste is used for further resale, and the rest is pressed and placed in a landfill. Taking this into account, the profitability of a waste processing plant reaches fifty percent, which is a good indicator with a payback of 3-4 years.

Plant site selection

An important issue of the business plan is to find a location for the future production. It should be located outside the city limits or in an industrial area. It is good if it is located next to the city dump, which will reduce logistics costs. The administrative office can be located both at the enterprise and within the city.

The factory premises must have a ceiling height of at least seven meters, an asphalt or concrete floor, access and entry routes for trucks through spacious gates, a crane beam, and separate specialized areas:

• What communications are needed
  In addition, it is necessary to have a powerful power line up to 300 kW, operating heating with maintaining a temperature of 210C, industrial ventilation, sewerage and water supply with a capacity of 3 m3 per hour.
• What area is needed for a landfill and a waste workshop
  The required area depends on the volume of production. So, for a small waste processing plant, 500 sq. m., of which 300 sq. m., for a warehouse – 200 sq. m. For a large enterprise with five sorting lines and a landfill, you will need 10 thousand square meters. m. area. In addition to production facilities, this territory should also contain a warehouse, utility rooms, a garage for equipment. The rental price starts from 100 rubles per square meter, while the contract itself is advisable to conclude for a long period, at least for five years.
• Minimum distance from the city

SanPin 2.2.1/2.1.1.1200-03 defines a sanitary protection zone for waste incineration and waste processing plants of the first class with a capacity of more than 40 thousand tons per year – at least 1 thousand m, and plants of the second class with a capacity of up to 40 thousand tons. – 500 m.

What equipment and technology will be required

To equip one line for waste processing, you will need the following equipment:

Name	Price
Sorting machine with hopper, bucket and drive (when receiving unsorted waste)	1 million 400 thousand rubles
Front loader	2 million 500 thousand rubles
crusher machine	1 million 200 thousand rubles
Press	100 thousand rubles
Total:	5 million 300 thousand rubles

What documents need to be issued

To run a business, you will need to register as an LLC with at least two founders. The specified classifier code is 38.32 with the corresponding subparagraph: 53 for plastic, 52 for paper, 51 for glass, 5 for non-metal raw materials, 3 for scrap.

The package of required documents will include:

• extract from the register of entrepreneurs;
• permission to store solid waste;
• coordination with SES and fire inspection;
• project documentation;
• license of the Ministry of Ecology through the examination.

How much to invest at the start

The size of the initial investment depends on the capacity of the enterprise, the type of processing and raw materials. Investments can range from 25 million to 3 or more billion rubles. Half of the amount will be able to finance the regional budget, and the rest must be found independently, with the involvement of borrowed funds.

The main items of expenditure will be:

• purchase of equipment – from 5 million rubles. per line;
• land lease – from 100 rubles. per sq. m.;
• purchase or construction of premises and paperwork – 1 million 500 thousand rubles;
• purchase of trucks – from 4 million rubles.

Transport can not be bought, but rented. This will help you save on initial costs.

Business risks

Among the possible risks of business in the processing of waste:

1. Increase in downtime and repair costs due to equipment breakdown, its insufficient reliability, lack of capacity reserve.
2. The closure of enterprises that buy secondary raw materials, as a result, the narrowing of sales markets.
3. Operating enterprises-competitors in the waste industry.

To minimize risks, it is necessary to carry out scheduled inspection and preventive maintenance of equipment, cooperate with several consumers of recyclable materials, and carry out quality control at all stages of production.