In Muncar, on the coast of East Java, Indonesia, fishers still make their living the traditional way, launching from the shore in the hand-painted boats they have used for generations. But that doesn’t mean that this harbor town is untouched by time. Plastic waste is mounting on the riverbanks and in the waters around Muncar. Some probably lurks within the fish brought ashore on the boats. Muncar is the second-largest fishing port in Indonesia, but it has barely a semblance of a waste management infrastructure. Dorothea Wiplinger, the sustainability manager for Austrian plastics maker Borealis, was on the ground in Muncar recently studying the problem. She says nearly 90% the garbage, mostly organic waste, that local inhabitants generate is either dumped haphazardly or burned. “You cannot see the sand anymore because the beaches are just full of waste. And then the high tide takes the waste away,” she says. “The people there don’t have any other choice.”

In Muncar, on the coast of East Java, Indonesia, fishers still make their living the traditional way, launching from the shore in the hand-painted boats they have used for generations. But that doesn’t mean that this harbor town is untouched by time. Plastic waste is mounting on the riverbanks and in the waters around Muncar. Some probably lurks within the fish brought ashore on the boats. Muncar is the second-largest fishing port in Indonesia, but it has barely a semblance of a waste management infrastructure. Dorothea Wiplinger, the sustainability manager for Austrian plastics maker Borealis, was on the ground in Muncar recently studying the problem. She says nearly 90% the garbage, mostly organic waste, that local inhabitants generate is either dumped haphazardly or burned. “You cannot see the sand anymore because the beaches are just full of waste. And then the high tide takes the waste away,” she says. “The people there don’t have any other choice.”

TerraCycle CEO Tom Szaky shows a shampoo bottle made with recycled plastic collected from beaches and oceans. (Phil Gregory/WHYY) The United Nations has recognized a Trenton-based recycling company for creating a shampoo bottle that’s made with plastic waste collected from beaches and waterways. TerraCycle chief executive officer Tom Szaky said 25 percent of the world’s plastic ends up in oceans, rivers, and lakes.

Is over packaging ruining our planet? From trapping and endangering sea life to making it’s way into the food chain, the overuse of plastic is a growing problem with far-reaching consequences. How bad is it?

TerraCycle has been named a winner of a United Nations Momentum for Change Lighthouse Activity award. The recognition is for the initiative announced earlier this year with TerraCycle, Procter & Gamble and SUEZ to create the world’s first fully recyclable shampoo bottle made with beach plastic. TerraCycle will receive this prestigious award in Bonn, Germany in November during the United Nations Climate Change Conference (COP23). TerraCycle, P&G and SUEZ were one of four winners in the Planetary Health pillar, and one of only 19 winners overall.

TerraCycle has been named a winner of a United Nations Momentum for Change Lighthouse Activity award. The recognition is for the initiative announced earlier this year with TerraCycle, Procter & Gamble and SUEZ to create the world’s first fully recyclable shampoo bottle made with beach plastic.

宝洁（P&G）和广告代理机构伦敦萨奇萨奇广告公司（Saatchi & Saatchi London）合作，推出了世界上首款由从海滩上收集的塑料垃圾制成的可回收洗发水瓶（Worldˊs First Recyclable Shampoo Bottle Made with Beach Plastic）。同时，宝洁（P&G）还与美国回收公司TerraCycle（回收和再利用用后废料领域的世界领先者）、法国环保公司Suez合作，将这一可持续性项目变为现实。

Tom Szaky is a man with a mission to eliminate waste. Parvati Magazine caught up with him this month to inquire about some of the innovative ways he collects and repurposes hard-to-recycle waste through his global company TerraCycle. Parvati Magazine: Individuals, schools and offices in 20 countries send TerraCycle their hard-to-recycle waste, and you have it made into cool stuff! At this time, which of your products are you excited about? Tom Szaky: I am excited about an announcement we recently made with Procter & Gamble to manufacture the world’s first recyclable shampoo bottle made from beach plastic, for the Head & Shoulders brand. The first bottles will be on store shelves in France in early summer. PMAG: You were 19 years old being laughed at and turned away as you pitched your business idea for worm-poop fertilizer in recycled bottles. What in your life prepared you to be the young man who kept persisting? TS: I think emigrating with my parents from Hungary when I was a child. After tremendous political instability, we went from Hungary to Belgium to the Netherlands and then to Canada where I grew up. My parents were respected physicians in Hungary but had to redo all of their training to practice medicine in Canada. In high school, some of my friends’ parents were entrepreneurs, starting with nothing but accomplishing amazing things. When I saw that, I felt like a whole new world was at my feet and knew I could drive my own success. PMAG: It seems that TerraCycle shines a light on hard-to-recycle waste. Have there been alternatives or packaging changes as a result? TS: There are companies, many of whom we work with, who are trying to be as responsible as possible about their packaging on the front and back end. I like being part of the discussion as to how we can affect change, either by finding a solution for a huge problem, like recycling cigarette butts, or giving consumers a way to be part of the solution, as with the Head & Shoulders shampoo bottle. Consumers can make a conscious decision to support the initiative by buying a bottle made with beach plastic and recycling it when it’s empty. PMAG: The more successful your business is, the better it is for the global community! What can you say about that? TS: I think it’s great. There are a lot of people out there who want to operate more sustainably, whether it’s corporately by making packaging changes on the front end and providing a way to recycle on the back end, or the people who recycle with us through their homes, schools and offices. PMAG: This seems like high-energy work. How do you find your personal rhythm among the ideas, people, meetings, juice wrappers and graffiti walls? TS: I’m a high-energy person! I love my job and coming to work and interacting with our staff and partners. Our offices are reflections of our people and our business and I think it helps stimulate creative thinking. PMAG: As we’re focusing on the value of laughter this month, can you tell us if you think laughter is important in the workplace and why? How do you foster laughter ringing through the halls of TerraCycle on any given day? TS: Laughter is definitely important in the workplace. The office can be a very intense environment and laughing at yourself and with your colleagues is helpful to relieve stress and generate camaraderie with your team.