Want to get rid of cardboards, bunches of papers and magazines in your home? Then, why not make money recycling them? Recycling paper not only helps you make money but it is quite good for our environment.
You will be saving a lot of trees from cutting down to make paper. According to the University of Southern Indiana, Americans use 85,000,000 tons of paper every year, it is nearly 680 pounds per person. All the paper after use is a waste, which goes to landfills finally when you throw them away. This is where the major damage happens. Landfills are the largest source of methane emissions which is a greenhouse gas according to the EPA. Therefore if you choose to recycle paper and its products, you are doing a good job both for the environment and your finances. However, as this article discusses making money recycling paper, let’s quickly get into it.
Search for Recycling Centers Near You
So, start with finding recycling centers near you to take them. You can get the information easily from the internet. You will be able to find a big list of recycling centers near you. Note them all. Now all you need to do is find out where to go. You can go through each one of the center’s websites or dial the numbers you get from the Google search. You need to just find out which centers pay you money for dropping paper products.
While some recycling centers buy aluminum trash and some only recycle glass bottles. Make sure you read their conditions properly. As all centers do not buy paper and cardboard, you need to do a little research here. Else, you will visit the centers only to hear that they don’t accept paper or pay you. So, it’s okay taking time to find out the right one before you step out. You won’t take more than 30 minutes to this anyway.
Also, check if any paper companies pay you for dropping the waste paper.
Collect Papers, Cardboards & Other Paper Products
So, after you find a recycling center near you, start collecting the paper products. Declutter your home by packing all the paper products such as magazines, newspapers, cardboards etc. You can even ask your neighbors, friends and family to drop their paper products for you to collect in front of their homes. Or you can advertise on Craigslist or in nearby Facebook groups that you are available to collect paper waste on a particular day. So that they will be ready with their trash. You can just go and collect it.
Sort the Same Type of Products into Groups
You can’t simply take the paper waste to a recycling center. Most recycling centers only accept the trash if they are properly sorted. So, sort the waste you collected neatly as they should be weighed properly before you get paid.
Just group all cardboard waste in one set, all papers into one set, and magazine into one. Thus group the same type of recycling the waste as one set to weigh easily. Also, pay for different products will be different. After all, you collected the paper by investing your precious time. So, you should definitely not be at loss.
Take Them to Recycling Centres
Now, you are done with sorting the same type of products into groups. Hence you are all ready to take them to a recycling centre. Give a call to the company, if there is nothing such as an appointment before. Else, you will be simply wasting your time and gas if the center is closed or not accepting the recycling products.
Get Them Weighed & Get Paid
Once you take the paper products to a recycling center, they will weigh the recyclable waste first to calculate how much to pay you. Again make sure you visit the center that pays the best. Generally, a ton of paper can help you make anywhere between $50 to $70.
After the material is weighed, they will either pay you an amount via cash or email the check later. Do not forget to collect the receipt, especially if you are going to receive the check via email.
The process takes some time as the material should be weighed, and checked if all waste you took to them is accepted. So, make extra time and go prepared. You can better make this on a weekend.
How to Make More Money Recycling Paper?
Recycling paper is a job that deals with dust, this is worth considering as a side hustle. Agreed that you can’t get rich just by recycling paper. If it is, there would be no paper waste in landfills. However, the only way to make more money recycling paper is to save the little money you earn. Over time, that little money do magic to your long term financial goals. Also, recycle paper at least once in a month to earn through recycling paper effectively.
As making money by recycling paper just takes either a day or two, you can also choose other side hustles such as tutoring if you love to teach, teaching English, delivering groceries or offering computer repair or electrician services to neighbors.
Having multiple income sources is always a good idea to make more money. While none of the side hustles restrict you to choose one, you can actually set up different income streams. In fact, you can even make a side hustle into the main income source gradually, if you are able to make a full-time living through it.
Bottom Line
Hope the 5 ways to make money by recycling paper help you earn some money. No matter if you want to take a step to do your part to save the environment or need money right now, this is a great way to start. However, if you choose this as a side hustle, make sure you don’t spend your earnings unnecessarily but save them to reach your financial goals faster. You can buy Christmas gifts or pay monthly bills though if you are already broke.
