Once a cooperative is established, the Advisory Committee may decide to expand the number of materials recycled. A cooperative may also help to close the recycling loop by adding a purchasing component for recycled products. A natural fit for a paper recycling cooperative is to add a recycled paper purchasing component. Your cooperative may need to be altered to keep up with the changing demands of the recycling markets, the needs of the recycling service provider or the needs of the participating or interested businesses in your community.
Cooperatives can cost a sponsoring organization a great deal to start up, or very little.
All cooperatives, whether expensive or not, require time. The cost of this time will determine the start-up costs for the operation. The cooperatives highlighted in this guide all received startup funding from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's President's Climate Change Action Plan. This funding enabled several cooperatives to have part-time organizers. The organizers worked with the partners and Advisory Committees to lead the program through step six.