POLITICO New York Energy
Digest of the day’s top energy news, condensed from New York Pro’s essential early morning brief
TERRACYCLE NEWS
ELIMINATING THE IDEA OF WASTE®
ARROW ENVIRONMENT A Simple Hack for Recycling Your Contact Lens Blister Packs
Recycling the Unrecyclable: Tom Szaky of TerraCycle
When it comes to saving the planet, one social entrepreneur has been fighting the good fight for over 18 years. Along the way, Tom Szaky founder of TerraCycle has established a formidable reputation for recycling the non-recyclable. Working in 20 countries, with major partners including consumer brands municipalities and manufacturers, TerraCycle has eliminated billions of pieces of waste from the landfill through various innovative platforms. And with another pioneering initiative just about to launch, it seems Szaky is just getting started.
Tom Szaky of TerraCycle
[LISTEN TO THE PODCAST BELOW] On this special Earth Month podcast, we speak with Tom Szaky who founded Terracycle in 2001 with a mission of eliminating the Idea of Waste®. His company achieves that mission through a variety of reuse, recycle, closed-loop and upcycle solutions. For example, they turn juice pouches into backpacks, granola wrappers into pencil cases and dental products into playgrounds, among plenty of other things. In our conversation Szaky offers a primer on recycling terms and terminology, shares lessons on how to unlock scale and establish valuable corporate partnerships and gives us a glimpse into his latest initiative, Loop. The circular shopping platform delivers products in reusable packaging and then collects, cleans and refills them – an initiative meant to appeal to the consumers desire for both sustainability and convenience. Listen to Tom’s story here.5 simple ways to teach kids to become environmentally friendly
When it comes to leaning towards environmentalism and caring for the planet, children and adolescents are miles ahead of us. A recent study of children between the ages of eight and ten found that young people are not only often more ethical consumers than their parents, but are more aware of global issues than some adults give them credit for. For example, when a massive factory collapsed in India, children in the study were quite aware of the issues, to the surprise of some adults.
Topics such as the welfare of animals, factory farming, and overseas working conditions can be out of sight, out of mind, and even overwhelming to the average adult. But today’s young men and women show a consciousness of social and environmental topics that carry over into action. New parents are looking to teach their children about the environment from a young age. Raising the next generation of conscious consumers.
gram .
here are some easy ways that you can teach your children to become the future environmental stewards of the planet:
1. teach young people about recycling
Why we need to recycle, and why some things are accepted in the curbside bin (and others are not). Lead by example, and purchase products with recyclable or reusable packaging. Companies like Love Child Organics exhibit this dedication through investment in their TerraCycle partnership. TerraCycle allows its snack bags and pouches to be recycled nationally. You can learn more about signing up for the TerraCycle program here.2. reduce food waste
Buy only what you need. Show your children what items you are buying. Treat these items with care to teach them the importance of conscious shopping decisions. Educate your children about how much food families waste each year. In Canada, about $31 billion worth of food ends up in landfills or composters each year. That works our to about $31 per week, or $1,600 per year, that each household spends on food that is wasted. For times when food scraps are unavoidable, get kids involved in the act of composting.3. walk or bike whenever possible
Walking and biking is not just for helping families stay active. Is also offsets greenhouse gases that accelerate climate change. A fun way to show your kids how they are helping the environment is with this carbon footprint calculator. It calculates the amount of CO2 you offset by choosing to bike, carpool, or take public transit.4. take cleaning out of the house
Next time you are out for a walk or at the park, turn beautification into a game. Whoever picks up the most litter, wins! This game is sometimes referred to as plogging. Once a Swedish fitness craze, now an international movement, plogging is a fun way to reduce waste and get outside. Search the hashtag #plogging on Instagram for inspiration, and post photos from your own efforts to share.5. make purchases count
Products are often mass-produced and designed to be convenient. But viewing our possessions as disposable or replaceable adds to our pollution problem. Teach children the value of the earth’s limited resources that go into making our everyday purchases. Whether it’s a new toy or pair of shoes, this is a great way to nurture an environmental outlook that children can carry into the future. Tom Szaky is the founder and CEO of TerraCycle Canada, the company working for a less wasteful future by creating recycling programs for typically unrecyclable items, such as chip bags, food and drink pouches and candy wrappers, and changing our perspectives on consumption and waste. Follow them on Facebook, Twitter and Insta5 Ways to Make Outdoor Excursions with Your Pet More Eco-Friendly
5. Choose pet foods and treats in recyclable packaging
Waste not: TerraCycle makes millions by recycling rubbish
Exterior of TerraCycle’s office. (TERRACYCLE)
For nearly two decades, Trenton-based TerraCycle has built its business on waste. The company, which posted about $32 million in sales during 2018, started in 2001 as small provider of fertilizer made from worm droppings. Then it gradually expanded to become “a world leader in the collection and recycling of waste streams that are traditionally considered not recycled,” like toothbrushes and other oral care products, according to a regulatory filing TerraCycle submitted to the Securities and Exchange Commission in connection with its $25 million Regulation A stock offering last year.
Courtyard at TerraCycle’s office. (TERRACYCLE)
For founder and CEO Tom Szaky, 37, the journey hasn’t just been about reinventing the company. Instead, he said, “Our mission has always been to eliminate waste. We started by making products out of waste, so the product was the hero. Then we realized that if our product was the hero, we would always be chasing after the easiest waste streams. So we made output the hero, and underwent a fundamental shift to a service focus.”
Under this incarnation, TerraCycle rolled out turnkey platforms, called Brand Sponsored Collection Programs, which are designed and administered for manufacturers that want to recycle their products or packaging. “For example, Colgate contracted with us to set up a national recycling program to collect and recycle its oral care products and packaging,” according to the SEC filing.
Leveraged business model
In effect, TerraCycle leverages the activities of its brand partners and others. In the Colgate partnership, schools collect empty toothpaste tubes, toothbrushes, floss containers and other used oral care waste and packaging, and then recycle them through other companies that contract with TerraCycle. The schools have an incentive, since the ones that collect the most waste can win a playground made from the recycled materials. Arrangements like these ease TerraCycle’s financial burden, since “[w]e don’t own processing facilities as it produces CAPEX risk and lowers nimbleness,” according to the SEC filing, referring to money-draining capital expenditures. “Also many processors are willing to either use their existing equipment to process our unique waste streams or install new equipment as needed. To our knowledge, no other company collects the waste streams we do for recycling, nor holds the knowledge of how to recycle these materials.” The company isn’t done evolving, added Szaky. “We always ask ourselves if we’re accomplishing our mission — eliminating waste — with our current business model. We recently asked that again and realized recycling is important, but it only solves waste at one level.” Enter Loop, a new TerraCycle enterprise that will let consumers order goods from a Loop website or from sites of partners like P&G which will be delivered to their doorstep in a reusable shipping tote. The customer pays a refundable deposit to cover the tote and, when they need to reorder the product, they place the empty package into a “Loop Tote,” for pickup directly from their home. If there’s recoverable used product left over — like diapers, pads or razors — they’re picked up to be reused or recycled. If a product refill isn’t needed, the consumer’s tote bag deposit is returned or credited to their account. Today, with a global footprint, TerraCycle has about 600 employees; about half of them are in the Trenton headquarters. Szaky said the company has a culture that’s “fun and informal while serious and rigorous in its work ethic,” and noted that’s a big part of TerraCycle’s success. He plans to keep it casual even as the company continues to expand. “The informal atmosphere spurs creativity and innovation,” he noted. “We don’t focus on how you dress; this promotes the flow of information. But as we continue to grow, we’ll have to work at keeping that fun culture, and not forget it. It’s like a plant: if you water a plant, it’s easy to keep it alive. If you neglect it, it’s very difficult to bring it back.”The crucible of an entrepreneur
TerraCycle founder and CEO Tom Szaky. (TERRACYCLE)
TerraCycle founder and CEO Tom Szaky dropped out of Princeton University to launch his company, and then kept reinventing it. NJBIZ asked Szaky what gave him the guts to keep betting everything over and over.
I think part of it was my upbringing. I was born in Hungary when it was still under Communist rule and everyone was poor. We moved to Western Europe, then to Canada, then to the U.S. — the heartland of capitalism.
That kind of exposure to different systems gives a person a sort of flexibility in their mindset. That’s reflected in our business model: We’re not flexible when it comes to eliminat-ing waste, but we are doing it in a profit-making model. I guess you could call it a blend of approaches.
His flexible attitude extends to the company’s decision to keep its headquarters in Trenton.
Trenton is a great location for our business because it’s right in the Philadelphia-New York City corridor, which has a lot of great people. Plus it’s close to global transportation, and a lot of major corporations are in area. And space is very affordable here, and people celebrate the company for being here.
The icing on the cake is that we’re also able to give back to the community. We’re helping to rejuvenate Trenton by creating jobs for local people and by paying taxes.
TerraCycle founder and CEO Tom Szaky. (TERRACYCLE)
TerraCycle founder and CEO Tom Szaky dropped out of Princeton University to launch his company, and then kept reinventing it. NJBIZ asked Szaky what gave him the guts to keep betting everything over and over.
I think part of it was my upbringing. I was born in Hungary when it was still under Communist rule and everyone was poor. We moved to Western Europe, then to Canada, then to the U.S. — the heartland of capitalism.
That kind of exposure to different systems gives a person a sort of flexibility in their mindset. That’s reflected in our business model: We’re not flexible when it comes to eliminat-ing waste, but we are doing it in a profit-making model. I guess you could call it a blend of approaches.
His flexible attitude extends to the company’s decision to keep its headquarters in Trenton.
Trenton is a great location for our business because it’s right in the Philadelphia-New York City corridor, which has a lot of great people. Plus it’s close to global transportation, and a lot of major corporations are in area. And space is very affordable here, and people celebrate the company for being here.
The icing on the cake is that we’re also able to give back to the community. We’re helping to rejuvenate Trenton by creating jobs for local people and by paying taxes.
Solving the Plastic Problem at the Source - Meet Loop
TerraCycle
Include USA
Loop
REN Clean Skincare
The Body Shop
Nature’s Path
Greenhouse
Preserve
Clorox
Teva Deli
Burlap & Barrel Single Original Spices
APR. 15, 2019Some of the biggest brands in the world have joined forces to try a new solution to single-use packaging, and you won’t believe who is on the list.
If there’s one thing I know about people, it’s that most of them are just trying to get by, they’re doing the best they can.
So when trash piles up due to single-use consumables, the very worst and LEAST productive thing we can do as a society is shame people and throw our hands in the air in exasperation. The very BEST thing we can do is look at the current solutions and work to understand why they’re not working.
THE KEY TO CHANGE: MEETING CONSUMERS WHERE THEY ARE
The reality is that recycling has never been particularly convenient, and now, it’s becoming a shrinking option altogether. With more raw materials than we have demand for and the world’s biggest buyer of recyclables closing its ports to more trash, the almost-easy solution of recycling is becoming a band-aid to a much bigger problem. As the world grapples with more garbage than it knows what to do with, the reality becomes clear: We need solutions that are as convenient as they are effective.MEET LOOP
Tom Szaky has been making waves in the movement for zero waste. His recycle-everything waste platform Terracycle has become famous for taking almost every waste stream known to man and creating custom processes for breaking it down and reintegrating it back into the supply chain. Loop is Szaky’s latest brainchild, and it’s a whopper. For over a year, some of the largest manufacturers of consumer products in the world have been working with Tom Szaky and his team to develop Loop, a new zero-waste store that delivers everyday products from household names directly to your door. Last year, Greenpeace cited 10 companies who were responsible for flooding the planet with the most throwaway plastic. Eight of those companies are now part of Loop, comprising a full list of brands committed to zero waste convenience:- Haagen Dazs
- Pantene
- Tide
- Crest
- Clorox
- Oral-B
- Cascade
- Gillette
- Venus
- Febreze
- Dove
- Axe
- Degree
- The Body Shop
- Ren Clean Skincare
- Love beauty And Planet
- Seventh Generation
- Nature’s Path Organic
- Hidden Valley
- Hellmann’s
- Greenhouse
- Burlap & Barrel Single Original Spices
- Preserve
- Teva Deli
- Fell
HOW LOOP WORKS
Loop is an online store containing your typical staple products — shampoo, toothpaste, ice cream, and more. In partnership with TerraCycle, the world’s biggest brands have developed a unique reusable packaging line that is designed to last for over 100 uses. Here’s how it works:- You place an order with Loop.
- UPS delivers it directly to your door in a reusable container.
- You use the product, then throw the empty container (you don’t even have to wash it) into the shipping container and notify UPS.
- The empty packages are sent to a sanitizing facility and then reintroduced to the supply chain.
Empresa francesa cria galão de água sustentável e diminui uso de plástico
A francesa Evian deu um passo à frente no combate ao uso de plástico. Engajada com questões de sustentabilidade, a empresa desenvolveu uma embalagem que minimiza os impactos ambientais. “As bolhas de água mantêm a forma do recipiente. À medida que a água é despejada, a bolha se contrai progressivamente. O design que desenvolvemos empurra “os limites da física dos materiais”, explicou Patricia Oliva, vice-presidente da Evian.
Biopesca adota ações de sustentabilidade
Atento à importância da sustentabilidade do ambiente, o Instituto Biopesca está adotando uma série de medidas que colabora com a menor geração de resíduos e o melhor uso dos recursos. Uma delas é a criação da Comissão de Sustentabilidade, que visa reduzir o impacto das atividades do Biopesca no meio ambiente. Seu objetivo é implantar iniciativas voltadas ao descarte correto e destinação de material apropriado a entidades da área de reciclagem.
Going green: The dope on legal cannabis after six months
The Regina store has been open only a few months, but Wiid Boutique has flourished and grown as one of the new entries in the burgeoning legal pot industry.
“Friday-Saturday’s are the busiest days for us, but average person count for a day would be about 350,” said the aptly named manager Caroline Green, who also represents the retail cannabis store’s six owners.
People from all walks of life come to the store — first-timers and lifelong users alike — and the ages of the customers range anywhere between 19 and 95 years old.
“We do get people in who are 80 years old who say, ‘I’ve never tried this before’ and because it’s legal they’re wanting to come in and try our products,” said Green. “It’s really cool.”
Wiid, at 4554 Albert St. in south Regina, opened about five weeks after cannabis was legalized in Canada on Oct. 17. Green says staff have worked hard to stay ahead of the inventory shortages that have plagued the industry so far.
“We’ve come close a couple of times, but we so far have not had to close our doors,” she said. “That’s definitely a good thing.”
Other shops haven’t been as fortunate.
The Cannabis Co. YQR opened on Nov. 10 but had to temporarily close down less than two weeks later after running out of supply.
“Out of product closed til next week’s shipment. Sorry for any inconvenience!!” read a sign posted on their front door on Nov. 19.
But six months in, a Saskatoon retail cannabis store owner says such growing pains for the new industry are easing.
“(The supply chain) has definitely gotten better since the end of last year,” said Cierra Sieben-Chuback, owner and operator of Living Skies Cannabis in Saskatoon. “I don’t like to say that out loud just in case it seems to not be like that anymore, but so far, it seems to be getting much better.”
Like Wiid Boutique, Living Skies Cannabis never had to shut down because of a supply shortage. Sieben-Chuback credits a lot of that to managing inventory through strategies like a product limit.
Until a couple of months ago, the store had a two-item limit per visit to the store. Customers could still visit the store multiple times a day, but couldn’t buy more than two items at a time.
“People are generally really excited — so happy that this is an option for them now,” Sieben-Chuback.