Recycling Franchise Opportunities

A family with storage cases

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Are you exploring the opportunity to buy a franchise in the recycling, reuse, or solid waste management sector? There are a number of possibilities from which to choose. Each franchise and service category comes with its own considerations in terms of franchise fees and investment requirements.

There are also other factors to consider, such as hefty physical demands in the case of junk haulers, the noisy environment of paper shredding, dealing with dog droppings and dogs of all temperaments, and more. While there are differences regarding working conditions, the common attraction is the freedom and excitement of owning your own business.

The links to companies listed below are not intended as an endorsement of any franchise opportunity, they are simply listed to provide a list of franchise opportunities in the marketplace. Prospective investors are encouraged to thoroughly research the franchise opportunity before deciding to buy.

Junk or Trash Removal

Truth be told, there is a growing market for old furniture removal, the elimination of clutter, and the takeaway of renovation debris. A junk or trash removal business provides a much-needed service to homeowners, contractors, and renovators, as well as to small businesses looking to declutter and better manage their locations.

Paper Shredding and Secure Document Destruction

Paper shredding franchises combine paper recycling and document destruction. These operations provide mobile shredding, in which documents are shredded at the customer location or secure destruction of papers which takes place at the shredding service location. 

"The overall U.S. paper shredding market is very competitive with downward pressure on costs," writes Tazz Haque in How to Start a Small Paper Shredding Business. "Security and confidentiality are the keys to success in paper shredding business," he adds. "In fact, these two words should be the main selling points." Businesses working in this sector include the following

Pet Waste Removal

One specialized niche of waste pickup franchises is for pet dropping clean-up and removal. When you consider that the U.S. pet industry is worth more than $6.5 billion annually, there is a lot of opportunities to pick up some of that action. The product to be handled limits its appeal, and arguably the competition. If you are comfortable in this line of work, scooping franchise opportunities include:

Reusable Plastic Moving Containers

In case you were wondering, roughly 20 percent of Americans pack up and move each year, This translates into around 43 million people changing addresses annually. There are a number of issues with the time-honored tradition of gathering used cardboard boxes.

For example, it can be increasingly difficult to source them as more and more companies recycle (and even if someone at a store is saving them for you, more often than not, signals get mixed, and they end up in the compactor before you get them).

Other problems include finding the right sizes, the fact that they probably do not have handholds for ergonomic handling, and the fact that after you move, you need to be able to recycle them. Given these factors, more people seem to be picking up on reusable moving boxes. Franchise opportunities in this sector are offered by the following companies:

Cartridge Recycling

Cartridge recycling has become well established as a means to reduce trash and provide reliable small business opportunities