Making Money from Waste

Bat guano? Worm casings? You mean, people actually make money with this stuff?

Does your company create waste from its manufacturing, retail operations or services? Instead of throwing whatever it is away, try instead to think about how someone else may want (or need) your waste products. This one technique may just tilt the financial picture in a more positive light.

Don't believe me? There are many examples today. One of the easiest is coffee shops. They create pounds and pounds of leftover grounds every day (a fact I distinctly remember after having managed one lovely locale in Calgary, Alberta for almost a year). I always felt guilty about throwing it all away, but I couldn't see another use for it. Then, a customer asked me for some of our used grounds, and I welcomed her request. But why? It seems that coffee grounds are excellent compost material. And thus, our waste was reduced (and the garbage bill as well).

Larger-scale waste-recycling strategies include bat guano (sold for $2 a pound for organic fertilization purposes in Ohio), recycling ink cartridges or old cell phones for cash and using worm waste and reused plastic bottles for organic fertilizer.