There are other options though. Many of these options can turn scrap materials into extra revenue for the business. It may take a little research and some calling around, but the benefits far outweigh the effort when you consider just letting the materials sit or paying to have them hauled to a landfill. In this post, we’ll examine some of the ways to make money from scrap materials.
Selling By the Pound
Particularly in automotive, aerospace, and other heavy metal industrial industries, there are thousands of pounds of scrap metal that build up over the course of time. Broken equipment, scrap wiring, piping, old parts, and old parts all contain valuable metals and other materials that many scrap dealers will pay for by the pound.
Oftentimes they are looking to buy scrap in order to buy it in volume for cheap and sift through it at a facility for the most valuable minerals. Metals like nickel, cobalt, copper and aluminum can all fetch a heft price on certain markets and if you’ve got a lot of junk lying around and no time to sort through it yourself, then a scrap dealer is a great option to bring in some extra revenue. If you find yourself regularly producing scrap, this can become a continuous stream of revenue.
Recycling
No, we’re not talking about taking your cans down to the recycling center, we’re talking about partnering with a company that recycles old materials into new goods and pays you in the process. Everything from car batteries to ink cartridges, to scrap metal and electronics has some kind of use. The trick is finding a place to take everything or finding a recycling company that handles the process for you.
Many of them will share profits with you, taking the raw materials, recycling them, and then giving you a portion of the earnings back. While the recycler will take the bulk share, you can still make some money and you get all of your junk hauled away for free.
Repurposing Used Materials
Whether it’s by doing it yourself or finding a partner, you can sometimes break down scrap materials and repurpose them into more goods. This is a useful way to stretch the usability of all the materials you bring in. For instance, melting down your own scrap metal and remaking it into other goods will allow you to take what was useless junk and turn it into other products.
Some businesses will even strip old machinery, and things down to the bare bones and reuse everything feasibly possible before deciding something is scrap and has outlived its purpose. Upcycling and repurposing used goods and materials can be a handy extra source of revenue for many businesses.
As you can see, being wasteful can mean cutting yourself out of a lot of potential revenue. Try using these tips and searching for industry-specific ways to make more money off of leftover products and materials.