Plastic recycling provides business opportunities but requires proper planning. Setting up a small-scale plastic recycling plant requires an investment of 10-25 lakh rupees. The key requirements include obtaining land or factory space, utilities, plastic recycling machines, and hiring technicians and laborers. Successful plastic recycling involves collecting plastic waste, sorting and grinding it, melting the material, and forming pellets or products to sell. With the right planning and equipment, plastic recycling can be a profitable business.

1. Plastic Waste Recycling
Plant – Business Plan, Profit
& Cost Estimation
By
Editorial Staff
-
April 10, 2018
0
2374
Plastic is a polymer known to be a non-biodegradable substance which is hazardous for
the surrounding. Plastic cannot be decomposed by natural means unlike the
biodegradable substances. The present world we live in is surrounded with billions of

2. plastic products. If we recount that how many things we have used today we may easily
find that most of things we have come around is made up of plastic. Thus, recycling of
plastic bottles and other products provide us with huge business opportunity. Plastic
recycling business is very profitable if carried out with proper business planning. In this
article I will share information on how to recycle plastics in your own small scale plastic
recycling plant to make profit.
Also Read:- 20 Most Profitable Recycling Businesses Available Today
Plastic is playing a huge role in our lives from usage as plastic bottles to toothbrush, mug,
bucket, tub, containers, polybag, and many more. The usage of plastic has kept on rising
years after years and now time has come that we cannot live without them. Plastic is a
known non-biodegradable substance which means that it is not possible to break it
through natural means. Plastic also a toxic substance because when it mixes in the
atmosphere it causes pollution. Scientists are quite worried about the rise in plastic waste
as they are unable to decompose them in comparison to the waste generation.
Generation of Plastic Waste:
Since the production of plastic in 1950s, 8.3 billion metric tons of plastic has been
generated till recently. These plastics are mostly become trash after one time use. It is
estimated that nearly 6.3 billion metric tons of plastic has become waste. Every year
nearly 400-500 milliontons of plastic waste is generated which continues to rise every
year. Most of the products we use have been replaced by plastic. The shocking part in all
these is that only 10-15% of total production of plastic waste is recycled.
Recycle, Reuse, And Reduce:

3. The 3R sums up everything on the issue of plastic waste generation. The best way to
reduce plastic waste is to recycle it and reuse. There has been a rising trend seen in the
recycle of plastic waste. Earlier it was took to task as a way to reduce waste and to make
a use out of waste but now it has turned out to be a full-fledged business.
Many people these days are setting up plastic waste recycling plant where plastic wastes
like plastic bottles, polythene, polybag, plastic containers, boxes, packets, sheets and their
likes are recycled into useful products.
Plastic Waste Recycle Business Plan:
As one knows that every business requires a brief strategy and so is this business. Before
we start the business to recycle plastic waste we need to first draw out a plan. Here are
few objectives that are necessary to look at before we start the business of recycling
plastic.
 What are the requirements for Plastic Waste Recycle Business
 Total investment required in setting up of recycling plant
 Requirement of Land or Factory
 Requirement of utilities and machines
 Collection of plastic waste
 What type of plastic waste will you recycle
 Your market after recycle
 Profit margin in plastic recycling
 Return on Investment

4. The above nine point sums up the whole strategy of opening a plastic waste recycle plant.
We need to first analyze these points and figure out the feasibility of whether this plan
would succeed or not.
Requirements for Opening a Plastic Waste
Recycle Plant:
1. The first basic thing you need to open up your recycle plant is a decent place. It
should be at least of decent space where you can keep all the waste and waste
product apart from equipment and utilities.
2. The second thing required is a closedspace similar to a factory but small sized
room can also work. It should be of at least 200 sq. feet of size.
3. The next necessary requirement is the machine by which you will recycle your
plastic waste.
4. Next is the plastic waste which you need to recycle. For this you can make a
network of plastic waste suppliers that can supply the required amount of
plastic waste.
The other requirements include a proper electric connection, generator for emergency,
papers for starting a recycle business from the designated authority, permission from
other selectedauthorities, a technical staff that can guide how to recycle the plastic, few
labors, containers to store the recycled product, etc.
Land Requirement and Factory:
The demand of land depends on at what scale your plant will operate. If you are
interested in small scale recycling then a 50 sq. feet room can also work but it you want
large scale recycling then at least 200 to 500 sq. feet of land is required for recycling

5. process. The land should definitely have shades, closedspace, large rooms, and technical
room and so on. You need to have a clean and closedspace where you will keep your
machine. All such closed rooms should be ventilated to avoid suffocation. A large space
should be dedicated to dump plastic waste while a clean space is necessary to keep the
recycled product.
Requirement of Utilities:
As you get a factory for recycling, you need proper utilities to run your factory. The
foremost thing you need is a proper electric connection. You should take the required
connection based on your power demand. Another important thing is proper water
supply. For emergency case you should keep a proper generator. The other utilities
include parts related with recycling, small tools, machines, compressor, furniture, etc.
Machines for Recycling Plastic Waste:
You need to buy the required machine for recycling your plastic waste. The plastic is first
compressed and then melted using the machine. Then it is given small shapes and is then
cooled down using cold water. The machine for this comes in many types. Some
machines have all in one features while some come in part. Machines also depends on
what type of plastic you are recycling and at what scale you are recycling. Based on this
the rate of machines depend. It would be better if you choose a large scale machine that
has various features.
Process involvedin recycling ofplastic waste:
1. Collection of plastic waste and dumping
2. Sorting and separation of plastic waste like PVC, ABS, LD, etc

6. 3. Grinding
4. You can now supply these plastics raw material to recycling unit
5. Recycling process initiated
6. Compression and melting of raw materials obtained after grinding process
7. Formation of pellets
8. Manufacturing of new products like chair, table, bottle, etc.
After you setup your factory and have your utilities fixed. Get the plastic waste and start
your recycling process. The major step involved in recycling is compressing and melting
down of plastic in to a liquid. This is done in a way so that least pollution is generated.
The next step involves filtering where waste residue is removed and higher quality of
liquid is passed. The next step requires shaping up of the liquid plastic. Mostly they are
shaped in small brick shaped or pellet shaped. They cooled down in cold water and are
later put in a dry container.
Technician and Labors:
To carry all the process of recycling you definitely require a technical mind plus man
force. Hire a technician who knows how to work with machines and recycle plastic. To
save cost you can hire the technician for a while and after learning from him you can try
it on your own. You can also take help from guides or can do a short course on it. You
should also hire some labors based on your requirement to carry out the job.
Cost Involved in Setting up of plastic
recycling plant:
To calculate the cost one needs to calculate the cost of all the required machines and
equipment mentioned above. The first is the land whose cost depends on the location of

7. purchase. To get the land in less cost you should buy it on outskirts of the city. Though
you should ensure that you get proper facilities wherever you have purchased the land.
The factory setup can easily cost you Rs 5 to 10 lakhs. The setting up of machine for
recycling costs from Rs 3.5 lakhs to 35 lakhs and beyond. Don’t make cost a factor while
buying the machine as it should execute the task very well based on the requirement.
Cost of other utilities will come around 1-2 lakhs per month. You can add the cost of
labor and technician as well. The other requirement includes the money required to
purchase plastic waste. This doesn’t costs much, around 20-30 thousand rupees per
month is enough. Money required in advertisement, transportation, finishing, packing and
manufacturing will add up as well. One can expect a total of 10-25 lakh rupees
investment for the first time with a monthly expense of Rs 1-2 lakhs.
How to collect plastic waste for recycling:
Team up with scrap pickers and plastic waste collectionhouses that you will find many.
Make a network with them so that they can supply you the required amount of plastic
waste. Most of them will supply plastic waste to your plant while in some cases you need
to transport. Make sure that your supplier uses plastic waste compressor to reduce cost
involved in transportation or else it would scale up your cost requirement.
What kind of plastic you will recycle?
Make up your mind of what kind of plastic waste will you recycle. Try to start with small
recycling plant that recycles plastic bottles, plastic sheets, polybag, small plastic
containers, and their likes. You may later add PVC pipes, sheets, plastic tanks, and many

8. others. There are different types of machine and methods required to recycle different
types of plastic so choose that one that gives maximum returns.
Later on Requirements and Usage:
Based on market usage these recycled plastics are sold in the market. To make it
economically more successful one can start manufacturing basic plastic products. Making
polybag is one of the most successful ways to use recycled plastic. For this you just need
a machine that manufactures these polybags.
Market for Recycled Plastic Waste:
The market for recycled plastic is very huge as the original non-recycled plastic is quite
costlier than the recycled one. The recycled plastic lacks quality in comparison to the
original fresh plastic. Your market will depend on the type of plastic and the number of
times the plastic has been recycled. The first time recycled plastics are used in
manufacturing high quality plastic items while the 2-3 times recycled plastics are used to
manufacture plastic bottles. The lowest quality of recycled plastic is used in
manufacturing use and throw plastic bottles, polythene, one time use containers, boxes
and their likes.
The recycled plastic that is of the lowest grade can be sold to road departments that are
using molten plastic in the place of bitumen to build roads. Molten plastic is similar to tar
and is durable than bitumen. 60 kg of plastic can build a 500 meter road that is 8 meter
broad. Kerala road department in India has built many such roads using recycled plastic.

9. Make a strong market that can offer you different rates for your recycled plastic. You can
sell it to plastic product manufacturing companies, polybag makers, road transport
authority and so on.
Return on Investment:
The starting return would not be much higher as the investment is high. You can take
loans during investment, finance your business or can share the cost with partners. If you
manage to reduce investment in factory setup then you may get starting returns. After few
months of start, you can get meaningful return by selling recycled plastic.
To add the profit you can start manufacturing basic plastic products like polybags, small
use and throw plastic products and so on. They have huge market. You can contact road
department to take the recycled plastic of lowest order to build road as it can give you
good returns.