We've blogged about TerraCycle before but they're continuing to make headlines. If you're unfamiliar with TerraCycle, they donate cash to charities in exchange for your cigarette butts, razors, expired pills, plastic food wrappers, etc, find new uses for them, and sell those products for a profit. See how they're doing all this while turning an enormous profit, after the jump.   TerraCycle already has their trash collecting and recycling operations in six countries and plans to launch in 11 more. TerraCycle is currently a $40 million company but owner Tom Szaky hopes they can become the "Google of garbage", according to an article in the Telegraph.

Why is WalMart selling trash? Because it is coming repurposed from TerraCycle Inc. I’m sure you have seen some of their stuff. TerraCycle sells backpacks, kites and coolers made from reused drink pouches, chip bags and candy wrappers. Their products are actually really cool looking. I see them everywhere. My son’s school even collects Capri Sun pouches for them. However, so far, the venture has lost money. The items they use are otherwise tough to recycle trash. Thankfully for TerraCycle (and the landfills), WalMart agreed to sell dozens of the products in connection with Earth Day during April. If enough of the items sold during the trial period, the company would land a huge deal with WalMart. If I had realized that, I would’ve picked up a couple of their things. I saw them, but really wasn’t in the market for them in April.

TerraCycle Inc. aims to make money by reusing the hard-to-recycle trash the U.S. produces each year — but it first needs to find out if Walmart Stores Inc. and other retailers think there's enough demand for its products.    The company, which sells backpacks, kites and insulated coolers made from reused candy wrappers, drink pouches and potato-chip bags that normally would have gone to landfills, has so far been a money-losing proposition. But Walmart, the world's largest retailer, agreed to sell dozens of TerraCycle products in about 3,400 stores in a promotion tied to Earth Day during the month of April.   If TerraCycle sold enough to land an extended deal with Walmart or another big retailer, the Trenton, New Jersey, company could turn its first profit this year. "The pressure is as high as I can think of," says founder Tom Szaky.

Four leading energy foods producers are sponsoring the TerraCycle program to recycle their wrappers into eco-friendly products and earn money for charities. So far, Clif Bar, Kashi, Odwalla and Bear Naked have helped keep more than 82 million wrappers and containers out of landfills and off roads and trails. Then they're recycled into things such as shower curtains and backpacks. Plus, the program contributes 2 cents to a school or charity for every recyclable item sent in. Participation and shipping are free. To date, TerraCycle says it has paid more than $900,000 to some 50,000 schools or non-profits. For more info or to get involved, click www.terracycle.net.

TerraCycle is included in Entrepreneur Magazine's Top 100 Most Brilliant Companies To Watch

Since most recycling facilities don’t currently accept flexible plastic (that’s the stuff they use in the wrappers), these concerned companies teamed up with the eco-innovators over at TerraCycle to do the next best thing: find a way to reuse the wrappers.

TerraCycle Inc. aims to make money by reusing the hard-to-recycle trash the U.S. produces each year—but it first needs to find out if Wal-Mart Stores Inc. and other retailers think there's enough demand for its products.