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At any given moment, 15-year-old Ryan Hickman can rattle off how much he earns per pound for recycling everything from boxed wine containers to copper. There’s no limit to what he’ll collect.
If it can be recycled, he’s on it—even if the payout is zero.
“It’s good for the planet,” Ryan told the Business Journal.
Ryan’s passion for recycling began at age 3, after he earned $5 recycling two bags of cans and bottles. The young entrepreneur immediately saw the potential.
“It’s free money,” he said.
Over time, Ryan realized his hobby was also helping the environment. He eventually turned his enthusiasm for recycling into two businesses: Ryan’s Recycling, his personal recycling operation where he serves as president, and Recycle From Home—a Costa Mesa-based, door-to-door pickup service initially funded by a state grant that pays residents for their recyclables.
Since co-founding Recycle From Home with his dad, Damion, and business partner Ryan Bloom in 2021, the company has expanded to 14 cities and communities in Orange and Riverside counties, including Irvine, Costa Mesa, Rancho Mission Viejo, Riverside and Corona.
Earlier this month, the business got approval to operate in Huntington Beach.
Cashing in: from $5 to $10,000
After his first trip to the recycling center, Ryan began collecting from neighbors, friends and family.
His dad, Damion, a graphic designer, made business cards for him.
“I made him a logo. We made some postcards, and it took off,” Damion told the Business Journal during an interview in the family’s San Juan Capistrano home.
By age 7, Ryan had saved $10,000. He marked the milestone on Instagram, sharing a photo of himself grinning with $20, $5 and $1 bills arranged to spell out “10K” on a table.
The post went viral. Within a couple of weeks, the family was logging about 5,000 emails a day and fielding media requests for Ryan to appear on ABC World News, NBC, The Weather Channel, CNN and Good Morning America.
Chelsea Clinton even chimed in on Twitter, now called X.
“She said, ‘Wow, this superhero is saving the planet,’” Damion recalled.
Ryan, now a fast-talking, articulate teen, said he enjoyed the attention.
“It felt crazy. It felt really weird. I liked it, though,” he said.
The spotlight allowed Ryan to spread the word about recycling.
Customer Payout: Nearly $900K
In 2021, Ryan and his father teamed up with Bloom to apply for a state grant to kickstart Recycle From Home. Bloom, who owns recycling centers in Orange County, “was very instrumental in getting things rolling,” Damion said.
They received $1.5 million in funding from CalRecycle to start a pilot program in Irvine. A year later, they secured another $1.5 million to expand into a dozen more cities. The company now has six vans and serves about 14,000 customers.
Recycle From Home charges a 10% service fee—so if a customer recycles $20 worth of California Redemption Value (CA CRV) items, it takes a $2 cut to pick up, Ryan said. Customers register through the app or website, receive a welcome kit and are paid via check, PayPal or Venmo—electronic payments go out within 48 hours.
To date, the company has recycled over 1 million pounds and paid customers $877,000.
Ryan said the service caters to people who want to recycle but lack the time or means to sort and transport materials themselves.
“The only time they have to leave the house is to put their bags out on the driveway or the front door,” an energetic Ryan explained. “You don’t have to load it in your car. Get your car dirty. You don’t have to leave your property at all.”
As for Ryan’s Recycling, he still spends about six hours a week on personal collections. He plans to use his earnings to attend college—where he’ll focus on environmental studies close to home.
“Let’s say I go to Harvard. I won’t be able to recycle here anymore,” Ryan said. “So, I want to go to UCI so I could still recycle.”