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BEIJING: China, being the world's biggest factory, generates tonnes of rubbish every year, much of which can be recycled.
With the massive demand for recycled materials, many people in China have been drawn into the recycling business, including young graduates.
While setting up a business may be easy, sustaining it, isn't.
23-year-old Wang Ke went door-to-door to collect recyclables in his final year of university education in 2005.
It was part of the work of his Undergraduate Go Green Website, the first recycling business to be set up by university students in China.
But it lasted only half a year.
Wang Ke said: "This line is rather difficult, especially for someone who is new to this field. If you enter this line without a huge capital, it's hard to continue. So rather than waste time, I decided to give it up."
Still, there are those who see great potential in the recycling business.
Chen Yuyang tracked down Wang Ke to take over the website.
He rounded up four fellow graduates from Zhejiang, a province known for its shrewd businessmen.
Mr Chen said: "My thinking is that I want to run my own business, even if I don't profit at the start. My family told me this: that if I can learn something from this, I can aim to slowly profit later."
Mr Chen and his friends teamed up with Go Green societies in the universities to collect recyclables.
And together with offices and homes, they divided Beijing by sectors to gather recyclables.
But it's tough going.
Many who come to the capital in search of work end up collecting rubbish for recycling, too.
They usually carve out their own turfs and monopolise the trade.
But the graduates are not giving up.
Mr Chen said: "Sometimes we eat simpler meals, as long as we fill our stomachs. There are times we just eat buns."
Though Wang Ke has given up his 'go green' website, he is optimistic the business will succeed.
He said: "If the website was still with me, it will definitely be gone. But if someone else takes over, he may even be able to make it big. With no more funds, I just have to go out to work, gain some experience and raise some funds. When the time is right, I will still set up my own business again."
Living in a country where competition is rife, these undaunted young people are truly admirable.
These days in China, university graduates can end up doing all kinds of jobs, from selling pork, polishing shoes, becoming a maid, to even a rag-and-bone man.
But that does not always mean they are good-for-nothing.
The richest person, according to a China study last year, apparently started off collecting waste paper.
So for these students, there's still hope. - CNA/ir
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