Organisations that are turning waste into social capital
TerraCycle recycling Include Australia Zero Waste waste management enviromental sustainability
Proving that you can work in developed and developing countries, and with a for-profit and not-for-profit business model, TerraCycle and Plastics for Change together tackle the global waste management system.
TerraCycle: Recycle Everything
With the tagline of ‘finding innovative uses for materials others deem garbage’, TerraCycle is a waste management company, founded by Hungarian born entrepreneur, Tom Szaky, in 2001. With services now available in more than 20 countries, TerraCycle boasts a crowd of 60 million engaged recyclers worldwide.
With a view to ‘eliminate the idea of waste’, TerraCycle offers tailored services for individual households, businesses and local councils and municipalities. Able to collect ‘almost any form of waste’, from coffee capsules to dodgy biros, TerraCycle will collect your waste, sorted or unsorted, and transform it in to new products for re-sale; from unique gifts, such as recycled jewellery and bags to larger commercial products such as park benches and office supplies. TerraCycle’s three recycling platforms include:
Rewards for your waste, a free recycling program funded by sponsors where you can earn points that are redeemable for charity gifts by participating in one of the sponsored recycling promotions, Zero Waste Boxes, which are offered in multiple sizes and in three sorting varieties; category separation, room separation and no separation and each box is valued differently dependent on the amount of sorting that will take place at the collection facility as well as large-scale recycling, which is suitable stream for businesses and other large-scale waste removal, working through a combination of the Zero Waste Boxes facility.
Ensuring that recycling is widespread and well taught, TerraCycle have also developed a range of educational resources and communications materials for passionate TerraCycle-ers to use in spreading the word. And for a behind-the-scenes look, Human Resources, is TerraCycle’s own comedy-filled TV Show, now in its third season.