East Amwell Township School is competing to win a playground made from recycled oral care waste through the second annual Recycled Playground Challenge, courtesy of Colgate-Palmolive ("Colgate"), the global oral care leader; ShopRite, which has more than 250 stores in the Northeast; and recycling pioneer TerraCycle.

St. Joseph the Carpenter School is competing to win a playground made from recycled oral care waste through the second annual Recycled Playground Challenge, courtesy of Colgate-Palmolive ("Colgate"), the global oral care leader; ShopRite, which has more than 250 stores in the Northeast; and recycling pioneer TerraCycle.

Anna Minns and the small local team that form TerraCycle are pulling off a ‘David & Goliath’ type feat in tackling the waste associated with major brands operating in Australia, writes Paula Wallace. It’s simple; it’s ingenious; and it seems to be working. Anna Minns told WME about how the start-up was collecting and storing massive amounts of waste in a Victorian warehouse that would have gone into landfills or otherwise entered the environment. But the big news is not the waste being diverted that had previously been considered unrecyclable but, instead, the programs TerraCycle is putting together with corporates to recycle/re-purpose it. “Virtually everything is recyclable,” TerraCycle general manager, Australian and New Zealand operations Anna Minns said. “The whole purpose for this business is to create markets for these materials ... so that eventually people aren’t throwing away chip packets because they’re actually worth something.” It’s true that companies have it within their power to take a greater stewardship role in the lifecycle of their products. It could even be argued that some progress has been made through industry-led initiatives focusing on packaging. But it has taken an innovator such as TerraCycle to disrupt the business-as-usual approach and show big brands how to close the loop on difficult-to-recycle materials. While many have complained about the blight of cigarette butts on the Australian landscape few have been able to make much of a difference, until now. Thanks to TerraCycle and its ‘Brigades’ program model, little parcels have been arriving from all around Australia, containing hundreds of thousands of butts – in fact six tonnes worth to date. Australia Post has partnered with TerraCycle to transport a range of waste items, including a new program launched at the end of May that will operate via specially created postal ‘bins’. TerraCycle is also gradually building up a national network of materials drop-off points that range from interested business, to the dentistry industry and other businesses. But back to the butts: Minns has achieved a first with the cigarette brigade program even for TerraCycle, which now operates in more than 20 countries, as she managed to get the three big brands to work together – British American Tobacco Australia, Philip Morris Limited and Imperial Tobacco Australia. “The entire tobacco industry is our partner,” Minns said. “They came together as a industry to fund the program and it’s a great example of industry funding a voluntary product stewardship scheme.” For every kilogram of cigarette waste that participants send in to TerraCycle they receive 200 TerraCycle points ($2.00), which can be redeemed for a payment of $0.01 per point to the charity of their choice. Shipments must contain a minimum of one kilogram of cigarette waste in order to receive a TerraCycle point donation. The postage is offered free and the whole program is underwritten by the tobacco industry. TerraCycle hopes that in the future it can work with established organisations such as the Australian Packaging Covenant to develop similar programs with major product suppliers. TerraCycle has similar programs operating for Dolce Gusto and Nespresso brand coffee capsules, toothbrushes and toothpaste tubes with Colgate, and triggers, sprays and pumps used in Natures Organics’ product range. “We don’t do any of the processing or manufacturing, that’s all third party suppliers ... we like to rely on existing technologies,” Minns said, adding that TerraCycle’s team of designers and scientists conducted the research and development on extracting resources from waste streams – IP which they share with local processors. According to Minns the lifecycle analysis that TerraCycle has conducted on various waste streams have all found conclusively that it’s a better environmental outcome to recycle than to landfill or incinerate. “Transporting is only a small part of the footprint, especially because we work through existing transport networks. We work with Australia Post so it’s just the extra weight on the truck,” she said. Creating markets What seems most remarkable about the TerraCycle story is that the Australian operation received no start-up funding from its US parent and no other forms or capital or government funding. TerraCycle is a private US small business headquartered in Trenton, New Jersey. It makes consumer products from pre-consumer and post-consumer waste and by re-using other waste materials. Minns, who previously worked in the legal field, worked at TerraCycle’s headquarters in the US for six months prior to bringing the business model to Australia. She worked unpaid for the first 12 months, managing in that time to devise programs with the tobacco industry and companies Colgate-Palmolive, Nestle and Nature’s Organics. The start-up’s marketing activities are primarily targeting companies and individuals, face-to-face presentations, online marketing and word of mouth. Minns said that recycled products would develop over time as they were able to build demand for the materials. “We pelletise the materials and sell them into an open market, we have a whole team that is focused on materials sales. That’s the overarching driver and purpose behind it all,” she said. “We collect so many chip bags in the US we are now able to sell that material. There’s a company in the US that buys the chip bag plastic for their decking products. She added that markets would not develop “overnight”. TerraCycle most recently launched its first user-pays program using Zero Waste Boxes, distributed through retail outlets for $100-200 each. Similar to programs running in the US and Canada which have seen two million pens collected in just one of the waste streams, the program will target businesses and households. Some of the materials accepted include coffee and tea capsules; office stationery such as pens, pencils and markers;  batteries;  mail room supplies;  binders; plastic gloves;  beardnets and hairnets; and snack wrappers. “We’re hoping to launch some new programs soon,” Minns said. “We’re working with councils on a cigarette programs with some councils already trialling bins around cities, hospitals and universities”.

O projeto é organizado pela Colgate e TerraCycle e tem como objetivo recolher escovas de dente, tubos de creme dental e suas respectivas embalagens de qualquer marca.

Used dental items are being sought by St Anne's School to be turned into new products such as bins, chairs or bottles. The Harvey primary school is urging the wider community to contribute items such old toothbrushes, toothpaste tubes and floss containers. Program co-coordinator and Year 1 teacher Amber Carruthers said the donations would be used for the Colgate-TerraCylce joint program, an addition to the school's own sustainability and recycling initiatives. Miss Carruthers said more than 30 million toothbrushes and 80 million toothpaste tubes were thrown away every year in Australia and New Zealand. "The TerraCycle program teaches children about recycling waste and also shows them how old products can be used to make new ones," she said. "Students are encouraged to bring in their used dental products, which are collected and sent away to be melted down and made into new products such as bins, chairs and bottles. Students have been very excited and each day, more products are coming in but now we are extending it to the general public to join us." Miss Carruthers said the school would receive two cents for every item - including toothpaste tubes and caps, toothbrushes, and outer packaging and floss containers. "Money received for the recycling will be used to purchase resources for the school's sustainability centre," she said. She said the students had enjoyed making their own recycle boxes for collecting products and classes were competing to collect the most products. Items can be donated at the school office on Young Street, Harvey. The program runs until November 1 and the school recycling the most also receives a bonus cash prize.

His story sounds like a frat-house comedy, in which a shaggy-haired Princeton kid discovers the recipe for totally awesome pot, and turns the idea into a business. His secret: fertilizer made from worm poop.

As far as up-cycling is concerned, Rocky Mountain Reuse Center is a place one can drop off used construction materials and purchase some for your house. Doors, cabinets, sinks, faucets, lumber and hardware can all be found there. The Resource is also a Terracycle drop off location and they take paired, reusable shoes, Colgate containers, and aluminum cans for the schools (please inform them it is for the school program).

Para reforçar essa nobre missão, Colgate e TerraCycle lançam a segunda edição de “Cuidando do Seu Sorriso e do Planeta”, campanha que vai premiar com mais de 50 mil pontos extras os...

New Jersey New Jersey-based TerraCycle, one of the world’s fastest-growing green companies, works with more than 100 big brands around the world to collect used packaging and upcycle the waste into new products: messenger bags made from Colgate toothpaste tubes, totes made from used Target shopping bags or iPod cases made from repurposed mail bags.