What actually goes behind the reusable plastic business, and how do industries cope with challenges?
We talked with a manager working in this industry and highlighted some of the major problems faced throughout the industry. So if you look into establishing your own plastic recycling business and have done all the research on what the profitability is, how much investment it requires, etc., I think knowing about the operations and service failures may help you plan better, understand the industry better, and plan a better service failure recovery.
Talking to an expert, we found that the main problem that will happen is machine shutdowns that may occur due to various reasons, like power failure — the most common one in many places — machine defects (usually rare but can halt your operations completely for a long time), or unforeseen circumstances such as fire (although rare and can be avoided with proper safety measures). The expert said machine shutdowns can really halt your business and may hamper timely delivery, affecting brand value and customer trust.
The remedy that he implemented and you can too:
- Always keep a backup generator that starts as soon as the power cuts — that is, with the lowest latency possible. This will save a lot of material already in the process.
- If your industry is large enough and you have sufficient funds, you can opt for a dedicated feeder line that exclusively powers your industry and is specifically maintained. Although somewhat expensive, it saves a lot of trouble from power cuts that you really can’t do anything about. And the Power Distribution Company, at the end of the day, will be answerable to you for the power cut. Another way to ensure a power supply is to install Solar capacities, which can also be expensive if it is completely disconnected from the main grid and you are using all the power yourself by storing it.
- There is also a problem of you not getting engineers and technicians to fix the problem with your machine quickly in case of a breakdown. Well, our expert solved the problem by giving basic level training to his staff and then video calling the expert whenever a breakdown occurred — fast and effective.
The second kind of problem that may happen is not having a reliable workforce. You may be stuck with a workforce who may leave whenever they want without accountability — a somewhat common feature of lower-earning blue-collar jobs in India. That will delay your production and may substantially affect your operation. The solution to this is not as simple. Hiring extra workforce than required might be suboptimal, as they would burn through your pockets, and establishing a strong agreement-based workforce contract is something that is not present in lower-strata blue-collar workforce. He is still fighting this problem — something prevalent throughout these kinds of industries.
The other problem is, of course, proper waste management and pollution control — which is regulated to some extent in almost all the states, but still requires proper knowledge.
The plastic recycling industry is one of the silent MSME industries but has the potential to make huge profit and business — if only, along with the profitability and cost, the operations part is fully understood.
