To address the recycling issue the company launched an ‘upcycling’ scheme in March, asking parents to collect empty pouches and Freepost them to Terracycle to be turned into Ella’s Kitchen lunchboxes and similar - half a million have already been diverted from landfill. Another lifecycle analysis suggests this eliminates 192g of CO2 per pouch compared to 6.33g with recycling. Lindley adds that the company also collects and sends off its manufacturers’ waste to be upcycled.

Add upcycled style to any gift with this easy do-it-yourself gift bow and gift wrap. You can make them from any kind of food wrapper, but the coffee style will be sure to wake up your inner crafty self. And if you find yourself with more Tassimo coffee wrappers than you can turn into gift bows, collect and send them to TerraCycle – www.terracycle.co.uk – and we’ll not only upcycle them into new products, we’ll donate money to your favorite charity for each wrapper collected. Now that’s a great gift!

Anyone who has a fondess for Tassimo coffee makers but who might be concerned about the waste created by the 'pods' - they can be recycled via terracycle.

On top of this, you can give your Kenco pouches to Terracycle and they’ll upcycle them into products.

I checked out the details on the packet and they have joined with TerraCycle to "upcycle" the refill packs and turn them into shopping bags, umbrellas and more! They even will give 2p per packet you return to a charity of your choice - I have chosen Macmillan Cancer Support, plus you can print off a Freepost label! A Win win situation. When I have returned 3 packets I could order a pencil case or 6 packets for a shopping bag, so helping the environment by using that rather than plastic carrier bags and saving the landfill by recycling. My packet is ready to post off to Terracycle - which incidentally does recycle other products and you can join with others to raise money for schools and groups.

Danone has introduced a free packaging reclamation program across the UK. The new program, called the ‘Danone Yogurt Brigade’ incentivises the return of used yogurt pots by paying a school or not for profit of choice 2p per empty pot or bottle returned.

Every product has a story to tell. A jacket that has been made from hot air balloons or a luxury handbag made out of old fire hoses - our waste is increasingly being used as raw material to create new products. This process is called upcycling which helps to reduce thousands of tonnes of waste going to landfill. Some organisations such as TerraCycle, are also educating communities on the environmental impact of our consumption and encourages concious buying.

The makers of Activa and Actimel have launched a programme collection yogurt pots with eco-innovator TerraCycle, that not only diverts the not traditionally recycled pots from the landfill, as it donates 2p per pot collected to a school or charity of the collectors choice. The programme launched in October, and the volumes sent in by 'teams' surprised even the most optimists. TerraCycle isn't only collecting the empty pots and bottles, it is also taking in pre-consumer material from the factory, that would otherwise be thrown away, for example the end of a roll of plastic, or misprints that are unsuitable to hit the supermarket shelves. So what does TerraCycle make with this? Firstly, they'll try to upcycle the material into new consumer goods, from the basic plant pot (that many of us to at home anyway) to coolers and lunch boxes, which can be found for sale at a major supermarket later in 2011. Then, the second choice is recycling the pots, when for example they are too damaged to be upcycled. TerraCycle was born in 2001 in New Jersey USA, when Tom Szaky –then a college freshman– discovered that worm castings were a great plant fertilizer. But as most college students, he couldn't afford the packaging for his product, so he began using empty fizzy drink bottles that he could find in bins around campus. This would become his first step towards upcycling, and ultimately the creation of TerraCycle. Just over nine years later, Szaky's ingenious (and rather unusual) idea can now boost of having operations in 11 countries (including the US, Canada, Brazil, Mexico, Sweden, UK, Turkey and the Southern Cone), with France and Germany lined up for early 2011; and with partners such as J&J, Danone, Kraft Foods and GSK, it is no wonder that TerraCycle is the leading name in upcycling in the world. Their Danone Yogurt Brigade programme also counts with the support of the Waste & Resources Action Programme (WRAP). You can read more about their collection programmes here: www.terracycle.co.uk/brigades

Terracycle, azienda del ventottenne Tom Szaky sta per approdare anche in Italia. La multinazionale è nata da un'idea geniale: acquistare oggetti riciclabili per rivenderli ad aziende interessate a trasformarli. Dai tappi di plastica ai sacchetti delle patatine, tutto può essere recuperato e diventare fonte di bunisses. Sostenibile

A new campaign has been launched in schools accross the country encouraging students to upcycle used writing instruments.