Question: Can a profit be made by selling recycled goods to consumers?
The answer is:
Yes! There are many highly profitable consumer products on the market thatuse recycled content. Examples include the Scotchbrite Never Rust "wool"soap pad made from preconsumer recycled plastic and Crane's "Denim Blues"and "Old Money" lines of paper made from scraps from blue jean manufacturingand recycled U.S. currency, respectively. Both of these products command apremium price and offer benefits to the consumer beyond just the recycledcontent. (In the case of Scotchbrite, its the fact that the soap pad doesn'trust like conventional steel wool. In the case of the stationery, its theunique aesthetic.)
Of course, there are many examples of products that use recycled content asa way to cut costs. One great one is Marcal, a line of household paperproducts that has always used recycled content as its raw material (thoughthey didn't mention it to the consumer until the 1990s when recycling becamepopular.)
An example of a recycled content product that is not doing well is WellmanEcoSpun fiber, made from 100% recycled soda bottles. It has found a limitedmarket among manufacturers who target green consumers (like Nike andPatagonia), but the fact that it is premium priced versus virgin and offersno consumer perceptible benfits besides the "feel good" is a barrier togrowth. (This product is a good example of how we may need governmentintervention in helping to create markets for green products, as most virginpolyester is coming in offshore.)
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