TERRACYCLE NEWS

ELIMINATING THE IDEA OF WASTE®

TerraCycle brings cigarette butt recycling to Columbia, MO

Dive Brief: The city of Columbia MO's Downtown Community Improvement District has bought and installed 18 cigarette boxes downtown to collect filters and has ordered 32 more at $50 each from TerraCycle, a Trenton, NJ recycling company. The cigarette waste is shipped to TerraCycle's New Jersey facility, then moved off site for processing. The remaining paper and tobacco are composted. The plastic is melted and turned into pellets. And the filters are converted to industrial products like plastic lumber and railroad ties.

Pelham Briefs

Fonthill Nurdles is asking Pelham to help recycle gift cards. The First Lego League Robotics team from St. Alexander’s Catholic School, as part of a provincial competition, chose the disposal of gift cards as a trash problem to solve. Student members told town council Monday more than 10 billion gift cards are produced in North America and 34 million kilograms end up in landfills where they release toxic polyvinyl chloride (PVC) into the environment.

Terracycle and Solabev Partner to Introduce Zero Coffee Waste for Businesses

Boasting an improved capsule designed specifically for use in business and hospitality settings, SolaBev is the latest technology introduced to the single-serve beverage market. In addition to the ability to address the higher-volume needs of commercial enterprises, the company announced today its partnership with TerraCycle to provide a recycling solution for its capsules. According to a 2014 National Coffee Association report, the use of single-serve brewing systems continues to rise, due to their convenience and efficiency. For offices and hotel lobbies especially, single-serve machines eliminate any instances of leftover, unused coffee.

Robotics winners at Holy Spirit school

The robots are battery-powered, but it is the cumulative energy that comes from wanting to learn that propelled the students at Holy Spirit Catholic School to take home a collection of trophies at the December regional LEGO Robotics League tournament. After earning first- and second-place trophies for Robot Design and Robot Performance, along with a grand championship in Robot Performance at the Southeast Idaho event held at Idaho State University Dec. 19, Holy Spirit students in sixth through eighth grades prepared for state competition at the College of Southern Idaho in Twin Falls on Saturday.

TerraCycle & 3D Brooklyn Make 3D Printing Filament from Recycled Potato Chip Bags

Have you ever wondered what happens when you recycle a potato chip bag? That bag could be turned into the next 3D-printed trinket. New York-based 3D Brooklyn has teamed up with TerraCycle to transform recycled potato chip bags into 3D printer filament—an excellent step in the right direction to slowing the world’s massive waste issue. The innovative company has also begun selling their mix of 80% recycled polypropylene / 20% recycled polyethylene online.

Flint recyclers step up efforts to combat water bottles

To prevent the pileup of empty bottles in landfills from the fallout of the city’s drinking water crisis, officials announced Thursday that residents will immediately have biweekly curbside pickup service.With thousands of water bottle donations coming in by the hour to assist residents dealing with unusable tap water from corroded lead pipes, recycling companies have stepped up to keep Flint from becoming blighted by plastic.