"HOW far will you go?" asks an espresso-sipping George Clooney in the Nespresso television commercial. He's talking about lengths we would go for good coffee, but it's a question coffee pod drinkers of all brands should ask themselves.

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”.

AN Australian first recycling program is now in the Shoalhaven. Nowra’s Ewing Electrical has teamed up with innovative recycling company TerraCycle to launch a scheme to recycle usually non-recyclable items. People can now recycle things like toothbrushes, toothpaste tubes, cigarette butts and Nescafe Dolce Gusto capsules. Ewing Electrical has registered as one of Australia’s first public collection points for typically “unrecyclable” waste. Lisa Pearson from Ewing Electrical, who will administer the volunteer collection point, said the company wanted to support a program that would help stop more rubbish going into landfills. “We are excited to house a collection box at our shop to give the Shoalhaven community a drop-off location to recycle their used items,” she said. “This empowers us by allowing us to decide where our waste and packaging ends up.” Not only will people be helping the environment, they will also support the Shoalhaven Junior Baseball Club, the Mariners. “Two points are earned for each piece of waste that we send in for recycling,” Mrs Pearson said. “All the money raised will be donated to Shoalhaven Junior Baseball Club and so we encourage people to join us in this community recycling drive and drop off these items and tell all their friends and family to do the same.” Locals are now encouraged to drop these selected used items to the public access collection box at the building entrance of Ewing Electrical, 97 Plunkett Street Nowra from 8.30am to 5pm Monday to Friday. Items that can be recycled are: * any brand of toothbrushes, toothpaste tubes, outer cardboard packaging and floss containers - excludes electric toothbrush components * any brand of hand and body wash pumps, triggers, nozzles beauty product pumps, tubes and face wipes and Nescafé Dolce Gusto tea and coffee capsules. Only a specific type of capsule is part of this collection and cannot be contaminated with other types of capsules.

In 2001, Terracycle founder (and the man they now call the Zuckerberg of trash) Tom Szaky was just another university undergraduate trying to come up with an idea for the Princeton Business Plan Conest. An Autumn trip to Montreal introduced him to the wonder of worm farming and he was soon singing the praises of the fertilizer that they produce. Years of back breaking work and diversification later and Terracycle is now a global leader in waste minimisation – operating in 21 countries around the world, with 60 million consumers collecting waste for their repurposing operations. This extend far beyond fertilizer, with Terracycle now targeting the waste that has not traditionally been recycled, at both the pre and post-consumer level. What does this include? In the USA, Terracycle has 60 different waste streams, converting everything from used gum to cigarette butts to dirty diapers into (respectively) rubbish bins, assorted plastic products and compost – not bad, for what we once considered trash! In New Zealand, Terracycle is currently limited to two waste streams: Oral Care products (toothbrushes, toothpaste tubes, floss containers etc), and Nescafe Dolce Gusto Capsules (from coffee machines) – but more are on their way. Of particular interest to sports clubs is the pending collecting for confectionary wrappers – stay tuned! So how does it work? Their system is simple. Interested individuals sign up online at www.terracycle.co.nz, choose a category of waste that they would like to collect and start collecting it. While Terracycle don’t provide a box for this (they want to encourage reuse of existing ones!), once your group has collected enough to fill a container your leader can request a free shipping label. This is affixed to the box and off it goes! For every piece of waste received, TerraCycle credits the group with a small donation (2 cents per item in NZ) that can be donated to any charity or school of their choice – meaning that your sports club can directly benefit, as well as reducing the waste sent to landfill. As LiteClub co-founder Michael Campbell says, “if we all do a little, together we can achieve a lot.”

3 September 2014 - The NESCAFÉ® Dolce Gusto® Team has joined with global recycling and upcycling pioneers TerraCycle® on a programme to recycle used coffee capsules. TerraCycle is the world leader in developing solutions for recycling “un-recyclable” items and has kept more than 2.6 billion pieces of waste from landfills around the world. NESCAFÉ® Dolce Gusto® plastic ‘smart capsules’ will now be given a second life through TerraCycle’s innovative recycling programme called “Brigades® ”. New Zealanders can now send their used NESCAFÉ® Dolce Gusto® coffee, tea and milk capsules to TerraCycle to be recycled into new products and materials. “The commitment of the NESCAFÉ® Dolce Gusto® team to providing quality coffee goes hand in hand with our commitment to sustainability. We are pleased to partner with TerraCycle to provide consumers with a free recycling scheme for our single-serve capsules. NESCAFÉ® Dolce Gusto® is the first NESCAFÉ® brand to partner with innovative company TerraCycle in New Zealand” said Nestlé Australia, Head of NESCAFÉ® Dolce Gusto® Australia and New Zealand, Tracy Hardwick. “The NESCAFÉ® Dolce Gusto® Capsule Brigade will salvage single-use capsules otherwise destined for landfill. Brigade participants can send their capsules to TerraCycle to be recycled via New Zealand Post by simply downloading a free shipping label from the TerraCycle website. Participants also have the opportunity to generate two cents per capsule collected to donate to a charity of their choice,” said TerraCycle New Zealand, General Manager, Anna Minns. “NESCAFÉ® Dolce Gusto® capsules don’t have to be discarded after one use at your morning coffee break but can be recycled at no cost to the consumer. TerraCycle’s Brigade programs like the NESCAFÉ® Dolce Gusto® Capsule Brigade also aim to engage the community around sustainability and to re-think where our consumer waste and packaging ends up.” TerraCycle will collect used NESCAFÉ® Dolce Gusto® capsules sent in from the NESCAFÉ® Dolce Gusto® Capsules Brigade then recycle them into two streams. As part of the recycling process, organic material such as residual coffee grounds will be separated and sent to an industrial composting facility. The plastic capsules will be melted down and made into new products. TerraCycle New Zealand is also tackling other difficult to recycle waste streams including a new programme to recycle oral care waste such as used toothbrushes, toothpaste tubes and floss containers. For more information about the NESCAFÉ® Dolce Gusto® Capsule Brigade visit www.terracycle.co.nz

A empresa promove ainda uma exposição de peças produzidas com embalagens de chocolates Nestlé depois do consumo, como bolsas e acessórios. A iniciativa faz parte da parceria da marca com a TerraCycle e está alinhada ao tema do evento, que é sustentabilidade.

Lançada em março de 2009, NESCAFÉ Dolce Gusto proporcionou a ampliação do mercado de café espresso, segmento que se torna cada vez mais relevante para o consumidor brasileiro. Atualmente oferece dez variedades, sendo oito bebidas quentes – Mocha, Chococino, Cappuccino, Latte Macchiato, Espresso, Espresso Intenso, Caffè Lungo e Espresso Decaffeinato – e duas bebidas frias – Nestea e Cappuccino Ice – para atender o paladar de toda família. Para mais detalhes, acesse o site www.nescafe-dolcegusto.com.br

Alinhado ao tema proposto pela SPFW deste ano “Sustentabilidade, Design e Tecnologia’, o lounge traz uma exposição de peças produzidas com embalagens de chocolates Nestlé pós-consumo, entre vestidos, bolsas e outros acessórios, frutos da parceria da Nestlé com a TerraCycle, líder global na coleta e reuso de resíduos pós-consumo difíceis de reciclar.

A empresa promove ainda uma exposição de peças produzidas com embalagens de chocolates Nestlé depois do consumo, como bolsas e acessórios. A iniciativa faz parte da parceria da marca com a TerraCycle e está alinhada ao tema do evento, que é sustentabilidade.

O lounge contará também com uma exposição de peças feitas a partir de embalagens de chocolate pós-consumo, como vestidos e acessórios, frutos da parceria da Nestlé com a TerraCycle, líder global na coleta e reuso de resíduos pós-consumo difíceis de reciclar.