The materials are collected by your trash company and taken to a county (MRF) recycle center . An MRF is a Materials Recovery Facility where the materials are sorted, baled and prepared for shipment to brokers or mills. The trash company negotiates with brokers and mills throughout the country who buy the materials and then convert them to a form which permits their reuse by industry.

Paper may go to a de-inking facility and plastic to a buyer who cleans the plastic materials, makes them into pellets and then sells them to an end user who will use the plastic pellets for making everyday products. Typically the materials are shipped by truck or by railroad to their buyers. In some instances, the company sells its materials to other local intermediaries. Paper companies specific contracts with other brokers or mills throughout the country.

When I first started recycling I often wondered who was making money off all this stuff. I really didn't care but I knew money was involved.

Who makes money on recycling? Many years ago the most commonly recycled materials were newspaper and aluminum cans. Frequently churches, scout troops and other not-for-profit organizations used can or paper drives as a way of making money for their organizations. Of course, the labor of collecting these materials was all provided by the not-for-profit organizations at no charge.

Today, recycling is a big business and because so many different types of materials are, recycled and must be separately sorted, baled and processed, there are significant costs in the process. The out-of-pocket costs, include the cost of collecting the materials at the community recycling centers or in curbside recycling programs; the cost of sorting the materials at a material recovery facility, baling and transporting the materials to a broker or mill; the cost of processing the materials in such a manner as to make them reusable or convert them to a reusable form. Each participant in the process is a business, government or not-for-profit organization and at least its out-of-pocket costs of providing its service must be covered.

The actual cost of collecting the materials does not fluctuate significantly from year to year. It is similar to other fixed costs such as the cost of collecting trash. However, the cost of processing the materials so they can be sold to brokers or mills for end use fluctuates significantly. It is simply driven by market conditions in the broader economy and often influenced by foreign markets. There are times when the value of aluminum or newspaper more than offsets the cost of collecting, processing and shipping the materials to market. However, in other times the collection and processing costs outweigh the cost for which the goods can be sold at market. Some materials that are currently recycled have a very low market value and an intermediary processor such as your trash company may actually lose money on plastics or glass. The intermediary bids its prices to local governments and businesses for recyclable collection/processing based upon its best judgment of market conditions. Money makes the world of recycling go round.

Does it really matter if a company makes money? I don't think so however I would like to see a little filter back into the communities. I know our landfills are full and we need options in regards to trash. It may be possible some of the companies are putting money back into the community. Sounds like some research is needed in that area.

Money makes the world of recycling go round.

Does it really matter if a company makes money on recycling? I don't think so, however I would like to see a little filter back into the communities. I know our landfills are full and we need options in regards to trash. It may be possible some of the companies are putting money back into the community. Sounds like some research is needed in that area.

In the next few days watch for information on the profits of some companies involved in recycling.

GO GREEN AND WORK FROM HOME!