There’s an old Yorkshire expression that says, “Where there’s muck, there’s brass.” Translated into 21st-century American, it means there’s money in garbage. Read how a young Canadian immigrant is making millions from “muck” and saving the environment at the same time.

You thought your eco-crazy neighbor with the composting toilet had gone too far? Trenton-based Terracycle, which already makes tote bags out of old Capri Sun pouches, is developing a process to recycle (yes, dirty) diapers. Admittedly, this is not timed well to a heat wave, but the Scoop just can’t resist a story with this quote: “That’s where the biocide comes in.”

Ernie Simpson and Bill Gillum hold a bag of dirty diapers at TerraCycle's headquarters in Trenton, N.J. (Carolyn Beeler/ For NewsWorks) TerraCycle "up-cycles" packaging materials into new consumer products, like these bags.

And as previously articulated, TerraCycle partners with brands to re/upcycle hard-to-recycle branded packaging, like Cliff Bar wrappers, Capri-Sun juice pouches, and so on. By setting up collection sites across America and the world—called brigades—TerraCycle is able to collect the quantity necessary to economically justify the reprocessing of it. While everything technically is recyclable, the costs of collection (curb side vs. drop off vs. deposits) and sortation (single stream vs. comingled vs. manual/automated sorting technologies) for multi-material packaging usually exceeds the cost of virgin material/packaging production; this results in the likelihood that said packaging is not being recycled in most American communities. When brands partner with TerraCycle, however, they fund the shipment of the hard-to-recycle post consumer collected packaging to a TerraCycle facility, where it stays until it is re/upcycled into new products/packaging/material. Part of the fee for partnering with TerraCycle also goes into R&D to better understand how to get the most value out of the collected “waste” and PR, so that the partnered brands receive the marketing collateral inherent in such a warm and fuzzy initiative.

  Kraft Foods' string cheeses -- branded Polly-O on the East Coast and Kraft elsewhere in the country -- are teaming with Six Flags Entertainment Corp. for a multi-platform "Twisted Fun" promotion this summer. The promotion also brings in a sustainability element, through a partnership with the TerraCycle, Inc. "upcycling" company.

At Bartlett’s Liberty Elementary School, recycling isn’t just a passing fad. It’s a way of life. During lunch, students dispose of their leftover food before sorting their packaging into various bins for cookie wrappers, drink pouches, potato chip bags and other items. If they forget, the lunchroom staff reminds them. This has been the culture at Liberty since art teacher Heather Lass started the TerraCycle program at the school. TerraCycle accepts hard-to-recycle objects like used glue sticks and mp3 players and recycles them into products such as clipboards and tote bags that they sell online or through national retailers. Large recyclers, like schools, can open an account on TerraCycle’s website and track their progress, earning 2 cents for every item they send in. So far, students at Liberty have collected more than 20,000 items, earning more than $500 for the school.

The collected  box tops and Capri Sun pouches -- which will be sent to a program called TerraCycle -- translate into more than $130, which will be matched with Durham Arts Council grant funding to bring in artists to speak to and perform for the students.

Most municipalities don’t collect all kinds of plastics. Most people don’t take the effort to sort trash or clean out bottles before tossing them to the curb. Compostable packaging is “too noisy” or “doesn’t feel right”. Most single-use packaging is non-recyclable. Products lose shelf-life and consumer safety by switching to a different type of packaging. Brands face numerous challenges in strengthening the eco-friendly features of their products especially the packaging, and consumers often have no options for recycling or reusing the product or its packaging. Research to create eco-friendly packaging, implementation of more responsible packaging, and the packaging itself is often more expensive than the alternative.  This cost drives up the price and drives away customers regardless of the social or environmental benefits. For brands that want to stay competitive while also becoming more responsible, these problems must be solved.

TerraCycle offers collection programs that regularly collect waste from more than 14 million people in 11 countries and convert it into more than 1500 new products and materials. Many of the collection programs are free and focus on waste that is not recyclable via traditional methods. The items are then sold at a variety of retailers, including Walmart and Whole Foods Market. The program was founded in 2011 and aims to eliminate the entire concept of ''waste'' by proving that everything we throw away is actually reusable. Tom Szaky began TerraCycle when he was just a 20-year old college freshman attending Princeton University and started by producing organic fertilizer that was packaged in used soda pop bottles.