Businesses or stores who may otherwise throw their cardboard in the dumpster or a separate bin for the trash hauler to collect on, could make money recycling. They could be using a baler to compact their recyclable materials and finding buyers for the bales. But recycling is not just for the big guys. Individuals, families, and businesses and schools of all sizes can also make money by recycling and finding buy-back programs for their recyclables.
Locate Buy-Back Programs that Pay you for Recycling
TerraCycle
Terracycle has a variety of unique waste collection programs for non-recyclable waste (like drink pouches and candy wrappers). Waste collected is created into new products, ranging from backpacks to park benches. Schools or non-profit organizations can earn points for charitable gifts or cash when they collect waste for Terracycle.
Recyclebank
Recyclebank is a fun way to earn points by pledging to do certain tasks like turning off the lights when not using them, or by recycling more. Recyclebank points can be exchanges for discounts or gift cards at local stores.
Beverage Containers (in Bottle Bill States)
You can redeem your plastic and aluminum beverage bottles and cans for 5-10 cents each in CA, CT, HI, IA, ME, MA MI, NY, OR, and VT. Bottle bills provide financial incentives for recycling by returning some money to the purchaser when the container is recycled.
Electronics Buy Back Programs
Many retailers and electronics companies have programs for buying back e-waste. Some examples include Gazelle, Target, and Amazon to name a few. You can also check with the manufacturer of your electronics product to see if they have a trade-in or buy-back program to recycle old electronics.
Locate a Recycling Center for Practically Anything
Earth 911 Recycling Center Search
Earth 911 has a very detailed Recycling Center Search that features a dozen main categories of recyclables and hundreds of sub-categories to choose from. The Zipcode locator and gives you the map and distance to the location, or if it is a curbside program or mail-in program.
Lowe’s Recycling Center Locator
The Lowe’s Recycling Center Locator allows you to search by Zipcode for the nearest recycling centers that recycle materials such as: aerosols, lightbulbs, fertilizers, paints and varnishes, pesticides, and batteries.
What other resources have you found that make recycling easier? We would love to hear your thoughts in the comments below!
