A recycling cooperative is an industrial
cooperative
A cooperative (also known as co-operative, co-op, or coop) is "an autonomous association of persons united voluntarily to meet their common economic, social and cultural needs and aspirations through a jointly owned and democratically-contro ...
, co-owned and maintained by workers, consumers or businesses. The cooperatives specialize in the
recycling
Recycling is the process of converting waste materials into new materials and objects. The recovery of energy from waste materials is often included in this concept. The recyclability of a material depends on its ability to reacquire the p ...
of various materials. Such cooperatives are either
non-profit
A nonprofit organization (NPO) or non-profit organisation, also known as a non-business entity, not-for-profit organization, or nonprofit institution, is a legal entity organized and operated for a collective, public or social benefit, in co ...
or
not-for-profit; a major theoretical benefit of mass co-ownership is that raw recycled materials can become increasingly and equally distributed among the membership population at a low cost, be it for reusage at home or for reusage in the manufacturing of newer goods or versions of goods to be sold to customers at cheaper prices than would be possible with freshly obtained raw materials. A subset is the business recycling cooperative, which, according to the
Northeast Recycling Council, is a group of business in a particular region, which separate recyclable waste, usually produced by their own functions, for prearranged collection by a shared hauler.
{{Co-operatives , types
Cooperatives
Recycling