Waste to wealth

           

Credit: irinnews

Waste business is one of the very few businesses you could start with little or  capital and make lots of money. waste can be a source of wealth if managed effectively.

According to the World Bank, waste generation is expected to rise to 2.2 billion tonnes by 2025 with population growth and urbanisation. 
Also, every 2 hours people churn out enough trash to fill the world’s largest container, that is 12 container ships every single day and 4380 container ships in one year; and by 2030 the amount of household waste will almost double to 3 billion tons annually.

Every year we dump a massive 2.12 billion tons of waste and if all this waste are put on trucks they would go around the world 24 times. 

credit: thenewyorktimes

Turning waste to wealth is a very viable area common in countries like Sweden, India and so on.
A lot of projects have been embarked upon by these countries. They are using waste to wealth programme  to develop innovative and forward thinking ways to create value out of waste. 

Germany, Austria, South Korea and Wales have the best recycling rate in the world. They  recycle 52% to 56% of their waste.

Sweden’s  waste-to-energy system efficiently provides direct heating to 950,000 Swedish households and electricity to 260,000 homes by sorting out and recycling its trash so effectively that less than 1% ends up in landfills. Sweden also imports trash from other European countries to fuel its power needs, with 700 kg (1543 lbs) of rubbish translating into up to 250 kg (551 lbs) of energy and fuel. 

India has devised a way to transform plastic waste into a substitute for bitumen – the main ingredient in asphalt used for road construction. 

However, there is still a huge gap in the waste management system especially in Nigeria.
The producers of waste are small.

Recycling of waste is just picking up in the Nigeria and it is good to know that some business oriented Nigerians are finally seeing  the opportunities the new business model has to offer.

The Waste Management Society of Nigeria (WAMASON) estimates that nearly 65 million metric tonnes of waste are generated in Nigeria yearly with Lagos alone generating about 13 million metric tonnes of wastes. Most waste goes to landfills to be burned and burning waste produces dioxins –  one of the most toxic chemicals known to science.

This is a gap that investors should seek to fill. waste business is a 100 per cent export oriented venture. Adding value to the country’s GDP and contributing to the growth of the economy.

Individuals, Companies, agencies and even the government should invest in this untapped business.

Waste collection is serious business if you plan and execute it right.
 You will need to meet with merchants that are willing to patronise you on a regular basis. like homes, offices, companies, restaurant and so forth. The good part is, the customers are already there waiting for you to approach them and introduce yourself.

You can start waste collection business on any scale. The scavengers; the honourable men and women are seen around the streets pushing their carts one after the other  and pitching tents at refuse site, not minding the stench oozing out of these dump-sites. These people make as much as some white collar job workers salary.

you can start with a a waste collection truck. 

you can also start by processing/recycling organic and inorganic waste. Organic waste is degradable waste such as food, grass, animals, and anything that can decay. Inorganic waste is not degradable: plastic, non-degradable paper, rubber, glass, etc.

you can make money by separating organic from inorganic waste so that both can be converted to other useful states.

Also, you can start producing biogas; mixture of gases produced by the decay or fermentation of organic waste (like sewage, kitchen waste, animal manure, food scraps and plant material). 

Also is production of fertilizer from organic waste which is a natural source of compost. Compost is used as natural fertilizer which farmers are more than happy to have. Because natural fertilizer is preferred to artificial fertilizer, farmers are willing to pay you if you can maintain a steady supply of compost.

Start that venture by turning waste into your pool of money; also creating jobs for others because waste is a veritable source of wealth and  employment. 

Having in mind that that the government will support by  investing in infrastructure for recycling plants and also set up policies that will ease doing business and encourage more investors in waste recycling.