California law requires a recycling center within one mile of every major grocery store. Most of those spots are empty. The state has money set aside specifically to get new operators into those empty spots and almost nobody knows how to access it.
The business model is simple. You open in one of these empty zones. The state pays you monthly per container you process just for serving the area. You also keep income from the containers themselves. The grocery store has a legal reason to let you use their parking lot at no cost to you.
Startup runs a few thousand dollars. A state grant reimburses all of it after you open. Net cost to launch is effectively zero.
Minimum operation is part time hours. With one employee your personal time commitment is around 8-12 hours a week.
Three income streams.
The state pays you monthly per container processed just for being open in an underserved area. You keep the margin between what you pay consumers and what your processor pays you back. Scrap value on aluminum adds income on top of that.
The grocery store adjacent to your site has a legal compliance reason to let you operate in their lot for free. You walk in and tell them you are solving their problem. Many operators pay zero site fee.
All of this is sourced from official state documentation. Nothing secret about it. The state database showing every empty zone in California is free and public.