Feb. 15. Tom Szaky. Founder TerraCycle Inc. “Redesigning the Throw-Away Culture.” TerraCycle upcycles trash into consumer products sold at the world’s largest retailers. Good-bye juice pouch; hello book bag! Szaky is an inspirational, award-winning sustainable entrepreneur whose company is redirecting our throw-away culture, with over 14 million people, collecting over 4 billion formerly non-recyclable items, in 11 countries. These recycling “Brigades” have earned over $2 million for their schools and non-profits. Star of National Geographic Channel’s “Garbage Moguls,” Szaky left Princeton in his freshman year to pursue his dream of this grassroots, collaborative business model. www.terracycle.net.

Founder and CEO of TerraCycle, Tom Szaky has been collecting and upcycling refuse since childhood, starting with discarded TVs and computer monitors.   "Even at a very young age, the excess and waste I saw surprised and intrigued me." Inspired by seeing waste as a great opportunity, the landfill as a poorly organized factory, and that with a little innovation he could run a profitable business that was also good for the planet, Tom dropped out of Princeton and TerraCycle was born.  Starting with sales of the brand's worm-converted waste fertilizer to the Home Depot and Walmart in 2004, TerraCycle has continued to flourish now working with major brands such as Kraft Foods, Frito-Lay, Mars, CLIF BAR and others, in sponsoring the collection of post-consumer packaging that pays schools and non-profits 2 cents for every piece they collect.  Today over 50,000 organizations have helped collect over 1 billion pre- and post-consumer wrappers that have been made into affordable eco-friendly products, such as totes and backpacks. In 2009, Tom released his first book, Revolution in a Bottle, and starred in 3 episodes on the National Geographic Channel series, Garbage Moguls.  When asked what lasting impression he wants to leave on the planet?

UTSA community members now can add Mars candy wrappers and Frito Lay chip bags to the list of materials that can be recycled on campus.  As part of its Green Thread sustainability program, ARAMARK Higher Education <http://www.campusdish.com/en-US/CSSW/UTSA/Sustainability/>  has partnered with TerraCycle <http://www.terracycle.net> , a New Jersey-based company, to 'upcycle' the packaging of these popular snack brands.

Several guest speakers talked about how to reduce the amount of garbage that is not able to recycled, garbage that we produce daily. They also talked about how to “upcycle” garbage that we thought was all useless. And they talked about how to make schools green. Out of all the speakers, one really caught my attention. He made me realize the many things we can do with recycled items. This guest speaker was Tom Szaky, founder and CEO of TerraCycle.

Nine years later, Szaky, now 28, runs one of the fastest-growing eco-friendly manufacturers in the world. TerraCycle Inc. runs collection programs for what are commonly thought of as nonrecyclable waste materials, saving thousands of tons of waste from landfills and making things like picture frames from old bicycle chains, backpacks from cookie wrappers, and tote and messenger bags from drink pouches.

Founder and CEO of TerraCycle, Tom Szaky has been collecting and upcycling refuse since childhood, starting with discarded TVs and computer monitors.

RUMSON, NJ - New Jersey based TerraCycle manufactures more than fifty products made from non-recyclable waste materials. Affordable, eco-friendly items such as shower curtains, purses and kites made from juice drink pouches and bulletin boards made from wine corks are sold in major retailers such as Walmart, Target, Home Depot, Office Max, Petco and Whole Foods Markets. The company has been featured on a National Geographic television program, (Garbage Moguls) won national awards and obtained high praise for its environmentally friendly products and for keeping hundreds of tons of garbage out of landfills. But, how do they amass the huge amount of materials needed to make their products? This is where the TerraCycle Brigades come in. The Brigades are part of a national program that pays school groups and non-profits to collect the items needed by TerraCycle to make its products.

Szaky explained how he started TerraCycle in his dorm room at Princeton University, collecting waste from the campus. Tom Szaky, the recipient of the College’s 2nd Annual Award for Innovative Leadership, may be the creator and CEO of TerraCycle, a Trenton-based company pioneering an international movement to help save our planet — but he hasn’t always been the conventional role model.

From its humble beginnings selling worm-poop fertilizer, this New Jersey product manufacturer upcycles retail trash into retail treasure. Each and every product on this earth has a life span,” said Tom Szaky, CEO and vice president of licensing and product development at TerraCycle, Inc. “The end-of-life reality of a bag of potato chips is that the food ends up in the toilet and the bag ends up in the garbage. Same with a pen; you buy a pen, the ink runs out. The only difference is, some products can be recycled easily and others not so easily.”

went nuts about TerraCycle after learning about them for the first time on Garbage Moguls. After a little research, I decided they were worth writing about. To initiate my series of Extraordinary Business Savvy Folks, I began with Tom Szaky and his crew. To recap, this Princeton guy was making worm poo. He needed something to contain all those worm poo. He collected soda bottles. Worm poo turned into insta-gold. He went into garage business with his friend selling worm poo. After that, they evolved into upcycling and recycling garbage into sellable goods. Sounds awesome, right? Try telling that to someone with a straight face! Now, he started off so small and so simple. He wanted TerraCycle to be the Walmart of garbage. Today, generating millions of dollars in revenue, I believe he succeeded.