It is far from a secret that in big cities there has long been a problem with the disposal of PET bottles or, more simply, plastic. Many environmentalists puzzle over the solution to this problem. One way or another, there are affordable solutions, for example - plastic recycling. Agree, saving the planet’s ecology while making good money is very cool. Given that this is a very profitable business, you can safely open your own business in this area. But there are many nuances that must be mentioned.
General useful information
Since PET bottles can be made very cheaply, it is unlikely that their production will stop in the coming years. Such plastic waste is accepted for mere pennies, so it is much easier to throw away plastic with garbage than to carry it to the collection point. Huge dumps of bottles and other products appear.
It is worth paying your attention to the fact that a plastic product in itself decomposes for about 200 years. Since this business will be based on recycling then it is very cheap. Such a thing is simple enough to open. This is due to the fact that the state will help you with all kinds of methods.
In addition, in most cases, you will not need to spend money on the purchase of raw materials. It is possible that you will even receive a small percentage for processing a certain amount of plastic waste. Let's look at some of the basics of this business and deal in more detail with the technology line and profitability.
Why in Russia this industry is not developed?
This question should be asked by every novice entrepreneur. In general, there can be a large number of reasons. But the main one is the following: businessmen believe that huge initial investments will be required. In addition, there is an opinion about the unprofitability of such an occupation, which is fundamentally wrong. If you give visual figures, then in Russia there are very few enterprises that are engaged in plastic processing.
Approximately 6% goes to secondary processing and, accordingly, 94% goes to landfill, where PET bottles decompose the next two to three hundred years. But in Europe, for example, not such a deplorable situation, although it is also far from ideal. About 80% of plastic is processed there. Based on all this, it is safe to say that this is a very profitable investment, especially if you open in a big city, where hundreds of tons of plastic are brought to the dump every year.
The first steps to starting a business
The most important thing is a successful start, and then it will be easier. In the beginning you will have to run. You should find out if special environmental programs are being implemented in your city. Their essence lies in the fact that the regional authorities allocate money grants or other assistance to novice businessmen in this industry. So, they can help you find a room or organize regular deliveries of raw materials to a warehouse or pay a percentage of recycled waste.
Therefore, before you register a legal entity, look at the local administration. There you can find out how the authorities support the ecology of their city or region. After you conclude an agreement, you can open a bank account, as well as proceed with the search for a suitable room where your small plant will be. Do not forget to register a legal entity, it is preferable to use the LLC form.
Where to receive plastic for recycling?
As noted a little above, you need to start looking for a suitable room. If in Europe this is a real problem - to find an empty plant or workshop, then in Russia there is nothing easier.There are a large number of buildings that have been idle since Soviet times. You need to focus on an area of 300 square meters. This will be quite enough to install all the equipment, as well as organize a small warehouse for storing raw materials and finished products.
But do not forget that in the case of an abandoned building, you will need to restore or conduct communications on your own. If you have free funds, then you can rent a room ready for opening, but you will have to spend a lot of money. Another option is prefabricated hangars. This is a good solution if you need to open as soon as possible, and there is no time to search.
Equipment purchase
After you have selected the premises, conducted all communications and made them suitable for use, it is necessary to proceed with the purchase of equipment. Here you can go in two ways: buy equipment of domestic production or foreign. In the first case, the acquisition will cost slightly less, but the quality will suffer. In the latter case, everything is extremely expensive.
It is worth paying your attention to the fact that the reception of plastic for processing is not the issue of drinking water, so the production line made in Russia will be quite enough. If you buy low-performance simple equipment, then everything will cost about 600 thousand rubles. If you plan to create a full-fledged powerful plant, you need to pay at least 2-3 million rubles for equipment for plastic processing.
In principle, you can start with a small factory. It is most profitable to process transparent plastic; it can be sold for about 20 thousand rubles. per ton, color - 15 thousand rubles each, and brown - 10 thousand rubles each.
Plastic waste recycling: technology and features
Let's look at how, in fact, everything flows. The whole process can be conditionally divided into several simple stages. At first you need to do sorting. This is done manually. Workers should separate colored plastic, transparent and brown. This is due to the fact that at the output we should get a product of the same color, otherwise the cost of the batch will decrease significantly.
Foreign objects, such as rubber or paper, must be removed manually. At the end of the sorting process, plastic containers are loaded into the line. Processing itself does not take much time, although it all depends on the performance of the equipment, so it can be either a ton per hour or 200-300 kilograms.
The line consists of several connected units. On the first, the covers and labels are separated, after the raw material enters the crusher, where it is chopped with knives and transferred further along the conveyor. The next is a washing machine, which removes not only dirt, but also unnecessary crushing residues with hot water. Then the plastic goes through polishing and rinsing, and already peeled off the conveyor. Flex gradually accumulates in the bunker, from where it is then unloaded and sorted.
Where to get raw materials for processing?
This is perhaps the simplest question that is resolved extremely quickly. Surely in your city there are landfills where a large amount of plastic is brought every day. Nothing prevents you from entering into an agreement with the owner and taking the raw materials for processing to your place. This is quite beneficial for the landfill owner, since you do not need to pay money for removal to a larger landfill or disposal.
You can make announcements that you accept plastic at a good price, say, at 6 rubles per kilogram. By the way, it is advisable to organize a collection point directly in or near the warehouse. So you save yourself from unnecessary transportation costs. In principle, there should not be any problems.As noted above, the state, and primarily local authorities, are interested in processing plastic.
Income and expenses
Well, now let's talk about how much you ultimately have to spend and how much you can earn in a month of hard work. The equipment will cost about 600,000 rubles, plus we will need to hire employees, at least 6-8 people. If the salary of each is about 20,000-25,000 rubles, then this is another 150 thousand. It is also worth taking into account unforeseen expenses, we will allocate 100,000 rubles for them.
If local authorities help with the premises, the first time there will be no need to pay for its rent, but you will have to pay 30 thousand rubles each month for electricity. In general, plastic recycling will cost you 900,000 rubles. But take into account that this is with a low-productivity production line. Costs will increase at times when buying more powerful equipment. After about a year, you should fully pay off. To do this, you need to produce about 10 tons of flex per month.
What else do you need to know?
As you can see, recycling plastic is a fairly profitable business. But here it is very important to have the right approach. For example, you can significantly reduce costs by contacting the city administration for help. In addition, you can constantly conclude effective contracts with the owners of large landfills for the supply of raw materials for processing. Over time, you will be able to gradually expand your plant and increase the productivity of the production line. Profit will grow, and along with this you will do a fairly useful job for the locals and the land on which you live.
Conclusion
Do not forget about such an important moment as the location of the plant. He should not stand on residential streets. This is due to the fact that noises are made during processing. If in the daytime this does not cause indignation of the residents, then dozens of complaints will come in at night. In addition, few people will like the standing hangar with waste under the window, even if it is indoor.
There are norms that determine the minimum distance to the apartment buildings of the city. They must be checked with the local administration. Well, that’s all that can be said about the processing of plastic into granules, and what are the advantages of this business. As you can see, there is nothing unrealistic here. Moreover, with the necessary support, you can start and grow more easily.
Respectfully?
Nikita Olegovich