Money under your feet or Is it possible to make money on the processing of rechargeable batteries? Franchise TUBOR - car battery service store.

The most difficult part of this project will be the organization of the chain of waste collection - removal for recycling. Yes, this business is not high-margin, however, the costs are not very significant, which is suitable for start-up entrepreneurs. And due to the high organizational complexity, it can become an excellent school for the organizer. Of course, this business remains low-cost only until the moment when you decide to organize not just a collection and sorting point, but also your own recycling workshop. In this case, your costs can amount to tens of millions of rubles, although profits are also significant.

“THE VOLUME OF THE RUSSIAN MARKET FOR UTILIZATION OF ENERGY-SAVING LAMPS AND BATTERIES IS ESTIMATED AT 1.2-1.5 BILLION DOLLARS PER YEAR”

So, you have decided to organize your collection and sorting point for the recycling of energy-saving light bulbs, batteries and consumer electronics(this can include both computers and mobiles, as well as monitors and TVs, as well as microwaves and other kitchen appliances).

Please note that primary processing will also be carried out at your collection point - separation of garbage groups, separation of metals, rare earth elements, plastic and glass.

Let's make a reservation right away that expenses and incomes can be calculated very approximately, a lot depends on your organizational skills.

In addition to the head point, where both the reception and sorting of garbage will be carried out, you will also need to equip other points. For example, by agreement to hold joint actions with shopping malls and government bodies by placing containers for collecting lamps or batteries on their territory. It is possible to equip an exit collection point that will collect such garbage on request. And to advertise it with the help of local ecologists in social networks.

Most importantly, you do not have to pay for such garbage. And you will be paid. For a conventional kilogram of batteries - about 2 thousand rubles, for a kilogram of metals from energy-saving lamps - about 1.5 thousand rubles. And a kilogram of gold or platinum from computer elements costs a whopping 320-450 thousand rubles, although you can hardly scrape up such a volume even in a month.

What is the price

Now let's look at the main costs. The creation of "LLC" will cost you about 15 thousand rubles. There will be no special costs for advertising, the coma of creating a business card site is about 15 thousand rubles more. A telephone connection with the number (8800) for your hotline will cost you 5 thousand rubles a month.

When choosing a place to rent your main warehouse and sorting shop, take a closer look at the industrial zones. There for some 5-8 thousand rubles for square meter per year you can rent a warm warehouse ( necessary condition). You will need at least 500 square meters, that is, you will have to pay about 2.3-4 million rubles per year for rent, taking into account the "communal". The advance payment will have to be made one month in advance. Approximately the same amount will be your monthly turnover. About 300-400 thousand rubles more you will have to spend on equipping the warehouse additional equipment. Another 150 thousand rubles will cost you a used forklift.

It will cost you about 800 thousand rubles to buy a "gazelle" and re-equip it into a mobile point for collecting recyclable raw materials.

To work in a warehouse with an area of ​​​​500 square meters, you will need 10 employees - sorters working 5 days a week, with a salary of 20-25 thousand rubles per month (in total, about 300 thousand rubles will need to be pledged, taking into account tax deductions). Also, 2-3 people with a similar salary will work in the acceptance group (on a Gazelle, and, if necessary, help load trucks with processed materials). You will also need a storekeeper-logistician who monitors the volume of materials in the warehouse - a salary of about 40 thousand rubles. Everything else can be outsourced - security, accounting, etc. Thus, outsourcing and the salary fund will eat up about 500 thousand rubles a month from you. Thus, the initial costs, based on three months in advance, will amount to about 4 million rubles.

Marginality

With a turnover of 2-3 million per month or more (which can really be achieved in 3-4 months), the margin will be about 20%, so the payback of the initial costs will occur during the first year of operation

Every car owner knows that a new battery can last for several years, and then you need to either restore it or buy a completely new one. As a rule, the restoration process costs two times cheaper, and due to the not very stable economic situation in our country, people try to save on everything, including maintenance of their car. This is what this business idea is based on - you will bring to life failed batteries.

To start this business, you do not need a huge capital investment. It will be enough to have your own garage and, most importantly, certain skills, without which you will not be able to make repairs. Let's talk a little about the essence of this business.

Another type of service that you can offer your customers right in your garage is the opening of a tire service. Of course, to start you will need to purchase some equipment, but it is easy to pay off after attracting regular customers.

Main types of breakdowns car batteries that you need to be able to deal with:

— wear on the side plates of the battery. As a rule, with such a breakdown, the electrolyte has a black color.

— plate sulfation- in which the machine battery accumulates electricity, but it does not give it away at all.

— closing plates together.

— frozen dead battery. The physical sign is swelling of the walls.

Now, knowing the main direction of work, you can find methods for solving them. I will briefly review the main points, but as they say, everything needs to be tried in practice. So let's get started.

Methods for restoring car batteries.

— Plate closure. This is one of the most common problems. In order to make sure that the battery is recoverable, you need to drain the electrolyte and start flushing with distilled water. If after several washes you see that the water is getting cleaner, then this battery can still work. If the water is black and coal mass is released, most likely it will not be possible to restore it. To restore, use a desulfating impurity and add it to the electrolyte. Before repairing batteries, be sure to read the instructions for using this impurity. I will not describe this, since this topic is more for an automotive site, and we are painting a business idea.

— charge by reverse currents.

— recovery process using training cycles.

— recovery mechanically (the first paragraph refers to this type).

— recovery using pulsed currents.

— with additives.

You can learn about all these methods from craftsmen, but, as a rule, they have a clear step-by-step sequence, so everyone can handle them.

Looking for turnkey solution for an auto business? Read ready business plan of a used auto parts store - . You can find out what pitfalls await you when starting this business, and what is the return on investment. We think the material will be useful to you.

How do you make yourself known?

Everything is trite here. We take, print out flyers, go and paste them in the garage arrays. Also, you can advertise in newspapers or specialized magazines. You can create your own website, but that's only if you live in big city. In a provincial town, if you do everything qualitatively, people will contact you themselves.

Pros of a business idea:

- this service will be popular in any case;

- the course of European countries towards environmental cleanliness. As you know, discarded batteries lead to very heavy pollution environment.

— this service is in demand at any time of the year, especially in winter.

- little competition.

Minuses:

- in some brands of cars, batteries are not disassembled and, accordingly, cannot be repaired.

- it takes time to study all the points and acquire practical skills (but this is more likely not a minus, but a remark).

- if, nevertheless, service stations provide such a service in your region, it will be difficult for you to cooperate with them. In this case, you must provide services highest quality and in some cases lower the price, but again, this is all individual.

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Do batteries need to be recycled? And if so, who and how can make money on it?

One battery is 20m pollution ² soil and 400 l ground water. A ton of batteries is a possible $5,000 compensation from the "Operator of Secondary Material Resources". Who, when and under what conditions can start a battery recycling business?

What's the question?

« Batteries? What is there to collect them, they are small!” - skeptics argue. Entrepreneurs and just people with an active position see this as an opportunity to earn and improve ecological situation in the country. The fact that the issue of collecting waste batteries is acute, says Anatoly Kalach, employee of the chemical safety and waste program of the Center for Environmental Solutions:

« Batteries at landfills are a problem in terms of ecology, and hence the country's economy. Last year's resolution of the Council of Ministers (No. 1124 of December 2, 2014) means a lot for its solution. The document requires all stores (regardless of what goods they sell) with an area of ​​​​more than 100 m- have a container for collecting batteries. There are more than 3,000 such shops in the country.

To date, about 30 tons of batteries have been assembled in Belarus. Those collected in Minsk are stored at the Ecores enterprise, in the regions - at the regional enterprises of Belresurs. In the near future, it is expected that they will be exported abroad for processing.».

The legislation paid attention not only to the collection of batteries, but also to their importation into the country: for almost 3 years, Presidential Decree 313 has been in force, introducing the principle of extended responsibility, when manufacturers and importers of certain products compensate for the processing of imported goods in the future.

Is it possible to make money on this?

In theory - yes, in Belarusian practice - not yet. The state in any case earns - actively (by collecting taxes from importers of batteries and electronics) or passively (by saving money on environmental initiatives). Can private traders make money?

Maybe, I think Dmitry Kuchuk, director of the waste sorting station "Zapadnaya". " Collecting and recycling batteries is beneficial for both private companies and the state. We - battery assemblers - can receive compensation of 75 thousand rubles. for 1 kg. A kilogram of batteries is not much, because they are quite heavy. It is cost effective for any company with an extensive collection system.».

But “we can receive” is not the same as “we receive”. Natalya Grintsevich, the director of the "Operator of Secondary Material Resources" - an organization that must pay compensation for the collection of batteries, said that the money has not yet been paid. " We are an organization that coordinates the actions of the participants in the process, but does not collect, neutralize or recycle batteries. We do not yet recycle batteries, which means that we cannot compensate those who collect them.».

What is the interest of a private company?« Most of the projects related to the environment are unprofitable, - Natalya Grintsevich dispelled our thoughts about the possibility of earning "money on batteries". - All over the world, these projects are funded by the state, which takes funds from taxes paid by importers of equipment and batteries. In Belarus, the importer has a choice: pay 100% of the potential cost of disposing of batteries (potential, since only a small fraction of them will be collected properly) or collect 15% of the volume of imported batteries on their own».

A recycler who accepts batteries for recycling can also make money. Alas, not ours. We do not yet have our own production for the processing of batteries. Now the question of what is more profitable is being worked out: to build your own factory or to export batteries abroad, paying for the work of a processor. The decision depends on what volumes of batteries can be assembled in the future - it is irrational to build your production with small volumes.

Batteries collected for recycling and Cell phones at the Finnish company Akkuser:

« I believe that we should not build our own enterprise for the processing of used batteries: the process is complex, and the potential danger to the environment is high, - Anatoly Kalach argues. - Belarus does not generate such volumes of used batteries to build its own enterprise, especially since it will cost a lot of money. For example, in Finland, before the launch of such a plant, they accumulated about 100 thousand tons of batteries - so that the plant would work without stopping».

Part of the processed products is utilized after extraction, potentially harmful substances, and part is sold to metallurgical enterprises. Available from a ton of recycled batteries a large number of heavy metals. The same amount of needed metals is contained in a whole railroad car of iron ore.

What prevents "making money" on batteries

Dmitry Kuchuk believes that in general the state has created conditions for the collection and recycling of batteries, but some questions remain. For example, a monopoly on the part of the "Operator of secondary resources". " It is important that the interests of private business and government bodies be represented at the same level, so that all participants in the process have the opportunity to influence it. This is much better than the directive decisions of a minister or the head of a monopoly enterprise: they are not always familiar with the situation from the inside.. - says the expert.

The environmental initiative intersects here with the commercial considerations of "private owners" and the state. The founder of the Secondary Resources Operator is the Ministry of Housing and Public Utilities, and it directs most of the funding to state organizations, while active private business is on the 2nd plan. If the initiative for the collection and recycling of batteries is not supported by the Operator, and the payment of compensation is not established, the process will stall. It is necessary to establish a dialogue between the state and private companies».

Maybe we don't collect enough batteries? Enough for its place and time - experts are sure. " It is impossible to say that we collect few batteries. We began to actively use electronics with batteries not so long ago. But the consumption of technology is growing - quantitatively and nomenclature - which means that the volume of collected batteries will grow.”- Anatoly Kalach predicts.

Speaking about the similarities and differences in our approach to recycling “energy waste” in Europe, Dmitry Kuchuk says: “ Belarusian and European legislation in this area adheres to one principle: whoever pollutes, he pays. In this we are similar to Europe. We differ from the West in that we have a monopoly enterprise that collects money from importers. AT different countries Europe does not have a monopoly on this activity, it is a collective decision. Conditions have been created there that allow any initiative group to start work and put it on a business footing. Recycling of batteries and accumulators in Western Europe also considered in terms of resource extraction and recycling».

As the practice of other countries shows, in the processing of batteries, household appliances, waste paper, private enterprises turn out to be more mobile and efficient. In the housing and communal services system, this is done for accountability: they are not stimulated by either the financial or the environmental component.

The fight against batteries in Russia

In Russia, the collection of batteries was officially launched in the fall of 2013. Then the readiness to accept and recycle used batteries was expressed by the Chelyabinsk plant "Megapolisresurs". Until that time, in some cities there were only private initiatives: local public organizations held actions where people could bring batteries and other hazardous waste. Everything collected was stored until “better times” or exported abroad. Often - to Finland, where a network of reception points is developed, processing enterprises operate. It was convenient for Moscow and St. Petersburg to work according to this scheme, and in other cities the topic of collecting and recycling batteries was rarely raised.

About how batteries are collected and disposed of in Russia today, the site told the portal Anna Zhevachevskaya, director of Ripe Berry. Ecological programs for business”.

« In Novosibirsk, we stood at the very beginning of the development of the project. And we're proud of what we've been able to create effective system, beneficial for all participants in the process, and in many ways inspire colleagues from different cities of Russia. Our project is called “Step 2: Green Goal”, and its idea is to enable Novosibirsk residents to safely dispose of used household appliances, electronics and batteries.

But where to organize such a collection? Where can I find funding for the organization of the project? Where to send for processing? In this regard, we are very lucky with our partners. A few months before the start of the project, I was approached by the owner of a chain of electronics stores with a request to help organize collection points for used batteries and mercury lamps in his stores. At that time, neither they nor we did not really consider this idea as a business project, we simply did not know how all this could be organized.

Soon we signed a contract with a Finnish battery and electronics recycler - the companyAkkuser, and thanks to this they were able to open official battery collection points. We have found a good partner for electronics recycling as well. People can donate batteries, accumulators, phones, chargers, cameras, etc. to our containers. The whole process of collection, storage, shipping and processing is absolutely transparent. Every person who donates batteries knows where they will go, where and how they will be recycled, and what new products they will receive. Every winter we send at least 1.5 tons of batteries to Chelyabinsk (we never had to send them to Finland, because a factory appeared in Russia). This is one of the largest indicators in Russia, although we do not have many reception points - about 10.

Do they make money recycling batteries? Russian companies? Anna Zhevachevskaya says no, and adds: “ The most important thing is that all participants have nothing to lose, everyone has their own benefit. Stores receive publicity based on positive ideas of environmental care. We, as an operator that allows the system to function effectively, have a small financial benefit, but this is still a direction of social business.

But processors earn, yes. Our only factory that accepts batteries for recycling charges a recycling fee. If for 1.5 years it was 72 rubles per kg, now the price has doubled. Their business is processing and, accordingly, they set the prices for their services themselves. In addition, this enterprise is a monopolist; batteries are brought here from all over the country, as well as from neighboring states. And in terms of profitability, the company has one huge plus - they did not create a battery recycling plant from scratch, they simply adapted one of their existing lines specifically for batteries.

It is gratifying that the principle of extended producer and importer responsibility in Belarus is partly a matter of national pride: it does not exist in Russia. It operates only in a number of companies and covers a minimum range of commercial enterprises. Basically, these are large foreign companies operating according to their charter, ready to implement the principles of "sustainable development".

According to Anna Zhevachevskaya, in Russia, the recycling tax is applied at the enterprises of the paper industry. However, it is not known to what extent the norms of the law are enforced there. most of these enterprises use criminal schemes to pay taxes. So far, commercial companies are finding ways to avoid liability for improper disposal of equipment. control and supervisory authorities prefer to look at such cases “through their fingers”, and unauthorized emissions to landfills of waste to be processed are practically not stopped in any way.

Russian perspective

How different are our realities from Russian ones - in scale and specifics? " If we talk about the processing of batteries itself, then today it is too early to talk about the profitability and success of the participants in the recycling market. The fact is that the bulk of the "green initiatives" of the business are rather short terms for the implementation of projects that require "long money" and interest in the processed product. The leverage for such projects can be 3-5 years without positive profitability, and considerable investments are required, says Anna.

Not every investor is ready to invest money for such a period of time for projects that can pay off, for example, in 50 years. As for commercial companies, they often have nowhere to get money to develop an environmental business related to recycling or recycling. This is usually possible if there are additional financial opportunities for the entrepreneur or enterprise, as a "side" business. As for ecology in general, the state must certainly be an active investor in the field of environmental protection, because without the active participation of the state in environmental protection, projects for the processing of solid waste, enterprises face bureaucracy and a lack of interest in this business.

For Russia, especially given the current difficult economic situation, the topic of ecology is gradually relegated further and further to the background. We have less and less to rely on attracting investments in our sphere and on assistance and participation from the state».

Even airplanes can be properly disposed of!

Dispose of batteries properly!

Why lead and sulfuric acid?

Often buyers ask the question - are there any more modern batteries for sale? Why do sellers offer only "traditional" lead-acid batteries, invented back in 1859? And why didn’t more modern nickel-cadmium, nickel-metal hydride, lithium-ion batteries come to replace them? They are more capacious, they do not contain toxic acid and lead.

The answer is simple - they have disadvantages that are unacceptable for car batteries. For nickel-cadmium high level self-discharge, a "memory effect" that makes it difficult to recharge, and greater toxicity than lead, the toxicity of cadmium. Nickel-metal hydride batteries have a higher self-discharge rate. Li-ion batteries explosive, expensive and lose their charge when low temperatures. Charging a lithium-ion battery is not easy: you need a special charger that works according to a certain algorithm.

So "by the sum of indicators" it is lead-acid batteries that today remain the best option of all possible.

Calcium or "hybrid"?

Buyers are scared by the word "hybrid" on the battery label. And the seller cannot always explain what this “hybridity” is.

A standard battery consists of six battery "cans" connected in series in one case. In each jar, positive and negative electrode plates alternate, covered with a layer of active mass - for the positive ones from lead dioxide, for the negative ones - from spongy lead. Electrodes (they are made in the form of gratings) are made of lead alloy. But pure lead is a fragile material, and therefore it is alloyed - small portions of antimony or calcium are added to the alloy.

There are practically no “pure” antimony batteries today - antimony is a catalyst for the electrolysis of water, and such a battery often “boils”. To solve the problem of boiling over, antimony was replaced with calcium.

So now the market sells either "hybrid" batteries (positive electrodes with the addition of antimony, and negative ones with the addition of calcium), or purely "calcium" ones (all electrodes are made of a lead-calcium alloy). The "calcium" battery has its advantages - in particular, low self-discharge (loss of 50% capacity in 18-20 months) and minimum flow water due to evaporation (1 g/Ah). However, they have a drawback - after two or three deep discharges, such a battery cannot be charged. The "hybrid" battery does not have such problems. But the water consumption in it is one and a half to two times more than that of the "calcium" - the presence of antimony affects. And the level of self-discharge is higher (loss of half the capacity in 12 months). But at the same time, “hybrid” batteries also do not require “maintenance”, that is, adding distilled water to the electrolyte.

Liquid or gel?

The battery electrodes are placed in an electrolyte, in a solution of sulfuric acid. Accordingly, there are two types of batteries: with liquid electrolyte and "non-liquid" electrolyte. The most common batteries with liquid electrolyte are simpler and, accordingly, cheaper. In addition, the energy reserve in them is enough for all consumers in a standard car.

As for batteries with a "non-liquid" electrolyte (sometimes they are all mistakenly called "gel" in a crowd), the question is more complicated. Batteries in which the electrolyte is really brought to the state of a gel using silica gels are currently used extremely rarely: only in motorcycles, and even then exclusive ones. In batteries with a "non-liquid" electrolyte, all the free space between the electrodes is filled with microporous material, which is impregnated with electrolyte. This is AGM (Absorbed Glass Material) technology, which provides an increase in the efficiency of the active mass due to better acid absorption, which gives higher starting current, deep discharge resistance, and durability. It is these batteries that are best suited for vehicles with a Start & Stop system and a brake energy recovery system. But they are not "gel" ...

On the market today, batteries with an "intermediate" technology - EFB (Enhanced Flooded Battery) are in demand. It is also called "wet electrode technology". In such a battery, a kind of microfiber “envelopes” are put on the electrodes. They also retain the electrolyte, which provides stability to cyclic discharge. But the battery itself is filled with liquid electrolyte.

Polarity - Asia or Europe?

Before offering the battery to the buyer, it is worth asking him in which country his car was assembled. Because Asian and European cars are designed for different arrangement battery terminals.

Simply put, “straight”, it is also “European”, polarity is when, with the battery position “terminals closer to you”, the positive terminal is on the left and the negative terminal is on the right. For a battery with a “reverse”, that is, “Asian”, polarity, everything is exactly the opposite. In addition, the diameter of the contact terminals may differ for "Europe" and "Asia". For example, on the Euro (Type 1) type, the “positive” terminal is 19.5 mm in diameter, and the “negative” terminal is 17.9 mm. And for the Asia type (Type 3), the “plus” has a diameter of 12.7 mm, and the “minus” has a diameter of 11.1 mm. Therefore, it is still possible to install a Japanese battery on a European car (by the way, this includes the “Koreans” assembled in Russia): there are adapters from thin terminals to “thick” European ones.

In addition, there are several types of batteries. And it may well be that the "Asian" simply will not take its regular place due to the fact that it is smaller or larger ...

What really matters

Sellers say: the buyer almost always does not know what he really needs. And because he has all these questions about "calcium", "gel", "lithium-ion", "Japanese" batteries. That is why it is important for the seller to explain to the buyer what he wants - and why he wants it!

So, the most important for the battery are three parameters.

1. Rated electrical capacity (Ah), it is determined by the energy output of a fully charged battery during a twenty-hour discharge. For example, the designation 6ST-60 means that the battery will deliver a current of 3 A for 20 hours and at the same time at the end the voltage at the terminals will not drop below 10.8 V. However, this does not mean at all a linear dependence of the discharge time on the discharge current. The battery will not be able to consistently give energy for a whole hour.

There is also an "unofficial" parameter - "reserve capacity". It is measured in minutes - how long the battery can work for itself and for the generator. For example, the reserve capacity of the battery passenger car at a load of 25 A and a voltage drop of up to 10.5 V should be at least 90 minutes.

2. Rated voltage - for a passenger car battery, it is 12 V. It can decrease when the battery is discharged and the current load is high. But experimenting by installing a battery with a higher voltage is not worth it ...

3. Cold cranking current (CCA - Cold Cranking Amperes). This parameter is especially important in Russia: it represents the amount of current that the battery is capable of delivering at a temperature of -18 ° C for 10 seconds, with a voltage of at least 7.5 V. The higher the cold scroll current, the easier the engine will start in winter.

All these parameters are in the marking on the battery case.

What to talk about with the buyer?

First of all, the seller must listen to the fact that the client does not shine well, spins weakly and for a short time, and not everyone has wires for “lighting up”. And then ask:

a) How old is the car?

b) Country of manufacture?

c) Does the buyer travel in winter or does he put him on a leash in cold weather?

d) Is the vehicle equipped with Start&Stop and Brake Energy Regeneration?

e) Is the car parked in the garage at night or “under the windows” in the yard?

f) Has the car been tuned, has additional electrical equipment been installed on it: heaters, emergency lighting equipment, etc.?

g) And the most important question - how much does the buyer expect to buy?

If the buyer has an “older” or tuned car, then it is worth recommending a battery with a larger capacity, for example, instead of 50 Ah, take 55 Ah. But do not "overdo it" - generators have a strictly defined power and it is not recommended to overload them. Yes, and forcing the buyer to pay extra money is also not worth it.

If the car is an “SUV” or “SUV” and fans of country trips drive it, then they should recommend an AGM battery. Such batteries have a rather high, up to 135%, cold scroll current, higher cycle resistance and very high ability to a deep level.