Some will tell you that recycling is all about the satisfaction that comes with doing your ‘bit’ for the environment. Which is at least partly true, but there’s also another, somewhat more tangible benefit that often goes hand in hand with recycling.
Money!
Contrary to popular belief, recycling has the potential to be a rather lucrative pursuit. If it wasn’t, there wouldn’t be so many spectacularly successful recycling companies in business right now, operated by CEOs with more combined cash than most entire countries. Of course, you’ll be looking at profiting from recycling on a slightly smaller scale, but still – even the biggest recycling businesses had to start somewhere!
So once you’ve found yourself a good recycling centre, here’s a quick rundown of just a few of the things you could start swapping for cash right now:
- Scrap Metal
Unsurprisingly, scrap metal tops the table as just about the most lucrative everyday material for recycling. Certain materials like copper and aluminium are of course more valuable than others, but you’d be surprised just how much some scrap yards will pay for most metals. - Bottles and Cans
The all-time classic, there was a recent story in a local newspaper of one savvy office worker collecting enough recyclable aluminium cans to earn over £1,500 for a luxury holiday. The value of used bottles and cans varies significantly, but there’s definitely value in there to be found! - Car Batteries
Admittedly, it’s not as if you are likely to find a stockpile of used car batteries just hanging around and gathering dust. Nevertheless, certain car part dealers periodically introduce offers where used car batteries can be exchanged for discounts or gift cards. Something to think about the next time your own car battery is on its way out of service! - Ink Cartridges
There are also various office supply stores – both on the high street and online – that periodically introduce offers for used ink cartridges. There are usually various restrictions on how many you can trade in and what the credit can be used for, but it still has the potential to be a source of a free cash for something you would usually throw out. When the time comes to replace your ink cartridges, it’s always worth carrying out an online search to see who’s buying and for what. - Electronics
Last but not least, there are various online companies that offer hard cash in return for old mobile phones and other electronic items. There are some that will even accept electronics that are completely broken and of no use to you whatsoever. Rather than repairing and selling them on, these companies instead exist to help reduce the amount of potentially toxic electronic components to find their way into landfills. As such, it’s not like you can expect to be paid a fortune, but anything’s better than nothing when you are effectively selling garbage!
