Garbage Collection: Unassuming Yet Profitable
The first time I noticed the trash recycling industry was on Douban, where a girl shared how her family had changed after she got married. She and her husband mainly bought a house in Guangzhou with the financial support from her parents, who ran a garbage recycling business. Of course, they also saved money diligently themselves. (Actually, there is a county in Henan Province that has turned garbage recycling into a local特色 fiscal revenue source.) 垃圾回收生意
Paper recycling typically fetches 1.5 yuan per jin, but when sold to end consumers, it’s just a few mao per unit. Metals are also recycled as paper and then sold upstream for tens of yuan per jin, meaning profits easily double at minimum. In the article about trash recycling, they added new media leverage, and many customers actively brought their recyclables right to them. They even signed contracts with the government for urban village demolition projects. Working together as a team, they earn over 500,000 RMB annually.