Can you make money recyling paper and plastic?
To earn money on recycling paper or plastic you need to work on volumes. For instance, in California i manage the recycle for the business I work for. I have a contract where we get paid $120/ton for cardboard, if we send 52 bales at one time or about 20 tons. I get $70/ton for white paper, $50/ton for mixed paper. LDPE and polystyrene is about $20/ton. So increments of 300 or 500 pounds won’t pay much if at all. Not to discourage you from recycling, still do that.
