TerraCycle Ceo Tom Szaky was interviewed by Philadelphia SmartCEO Magazine about eco-entrepreneurship.

Founded in 2001 by CEO Tom Szaky, TerraCycle's anti-butt campaign, dubbed Cigarette Waste Brigade, is a essentially a war on the seemingly countless discarded cancer sticks that litter our beaches, streets, and waterways. All parts of the extinguished cigarettes—the filters, the outer plastic packaging, the inner foil packaging, the rolling paper, and, yes, even the ashes—are collected by registered "brigades," which are located all over the world. The brigades ship the cigarette detritus to TerraCycle, which then melts and recycles then into plastic lumber, pallets, bins, and ashtrays. A house, for example, could be framed from this type of recycled material. Sponsored by the Santa Fe Natural Tobacco Company, TerraCycle's Cigarette Brigade aims to work with more than 20 million people already collecting various types of waste for them in over 20 countries. “We certainly hope that TerraCycle is becoming a global spotlight on the issue of waste in our society!," said Albe Zakes, the company's Global VP and Media Relations. "Education and awareness are the basis of evolution and we find that many average consumers are simply unaware of the massive size and impact of waste in our consumer driven economy."

A subsidiary of the nation's second-largest cigarette maker, Reynolds American Inc., is funding a national recycling program to reward do-gooders for cleaning up tobacco waste and turn cigarette buts into pellets used to make items such as plastic shipping pallets, railroad ties, and park benches.

TerraCycle recycles the most littered item in the US: cigarette butts.

Founded in 2001 by CEO Tom Szaky, TerraCycle's anti-butt campaign, dubbed Cigarette Waste Brigade, is a essentially a war on the seemingly countless discarded cancer sticks that litter our beaches, streets, and waterways. All parts of the extinguished cigarettes—the filters, the outer plastic packaging, the inner foil packaging, the rolling paper, and, yes, even the ashes—are collected by registered "brigades," which are located all over the world. The brigades ship the cigarette detritus to TerraCycle, which then melts and recycles then into plastic lumber, pallets, bins, and ashtrays. A house, for example, could be framed from this type of recycled material. Sponsored by the Santa Fe Natural Tobacco Company, TerraCycle's Cigarette Brigade aims to work with more than 20 million people already collecting various types of waste for them in over 20 countries. “We certainly hope that TerraCycle is becoming a global spotlight on the issue of waste in our society!," said Albe Zakes, the company's Global VP and Media Relations. "Education and awareness are the basis of evolution and we find that many average consumers are simply unaware of the massive size and impact of waste in our consumer driven economy."

A Rochester family helps the environment by recycling items that are usually not recyclable. Cheryl Bertou runs a small makeshift recycling canter in her basement. "We raised about $200.00 and kept about 13,000 items out of landfills," says Bertou through the fundraiser TerraCycle. They are collecting candy wrappers, chip bags, and personal care and beauty items that are then shipped off to TerraCycle.

Tom Szaky collects the most disgusting things. Yucky yogurt containers. Sticky candy wrappers. Old flip-flops. Now, he and his Trenton company, TerraCycle, are onto a new one: cigarette butts, the most common litter items on the planet. (And much, much worse items, but that comes later.) So bring 'em on. Let neither stinkiness nor sogginess nor other manner of nastiness be a barrier. Once in hand, the company will "sanitize" and sort the butts, sending the paper and tobacco to a specialty tobacco composter. The filters will be melted and re-formed into pellets, eventually to end up as two different but butt-worthy items - ashtrays and park benches. For every 1,000 butts sent in by a TerraCycle member (find out more atwww.terracycle.com), a dollar will go to the national anti-littering nonprofit, Keep America Beautiful. Szaky said the new butt program "will help to promote our belief that everything can and should be recycled." It's part of his plan to "eliminate the idea of waste." Targeting butts should be easy. They're everywhere. A 2009 Keep America Beautiful study found that 65 percent of cigarette butts wind up as litter. In a quarter century of beach cleanups, volunteers for the Ocean Conservancy have picked up more than 52 million butts - the most pervasive item they find. Many beaches now limit smoking to designated areas. Campuses fed up with spending thousands of dollars picking up the things have considered bans. Still the butts come. They are more than unsightly. Peer-reviewed studies have detailed how metals leach from smoked cigarettes. And how chemicals in the butts are harmful to fish, which is relevant because many butts wind up in waterways. Even when butts are picked up - or not littered to begin with - they add to the waste stream piling up in our landfills. Keep America Beautiful has actually studied butt locales. Most (85 percent) wind up on the open ground, followed by bushes or shrubbery, then around - not in - trash receptacles. The final 15 percent get stubbed out in planters.

Tom Szaky collects the most disgusting things. Yucky yogurt containers. Sticky candy wrappers. Old flip-flops. Now, he and his Trenton company, TerraCycle, are onto a new one: cigarette butts, the most common litter items on the planet. (And much, much worse items, but that comes later.) So bring 'em on. Let neither stinkiness nor sogginess nor other manner of nastiness be a barrier. Once in hand, the company will "sanitize" and sort the butts, sending the paper and tobacco to a specialty tobacco composter. The filters will be melted and re-formed into pellets, eventually to end up as two different but butt-worthy items - ashtrays and park benches. For every 1,000 butts sent in by a TerraCycle member (find out more atwww.terracycle.com), a dollar will go to the national anti-littering nonprofit, Keep America Beautiful. Szaky said the new butt program "will help to promote our belief that everything can and should be recycled." It's part of his plan to "eliminate the idea of waste." Targeting butts should be easy. They're everywhere. A 2009 Keep America Beautiful study found that 65 percent of cigarette butts wind up as litter. In a quarter century of beach cleanups, volunteers for the Ocean Conservancy have picked up more than 52 million butts - the most pervasive item they find. Many beaches now limit smoking to designated areas. Campuses fed up with spending thousands of dollars picking up the things have considered bans. Still the butts come. They are more than unsightly. Peer-reviewed studies have detailed how metals leach from smoked cigarettes. And how chemicals in the butts are harmful to fish, which is relevant because many butts wind up in waterways. Even when butts are picked up - or not littered to begin with - they add to the waste stream piling up in our landfills. Keep America Beautiful has actually studied butt locales. Most (85 percent) wind up on the open ground, followed by bushes or shrubbery, then around - not in - trash receptacles. The final 15 percent get stubbed out in planters.

Tom Szaky collects the most disgusting things. Yucky yogurt containers. Sticky candy wrappers. Old flip-flops. Now, he and his Trenton company, TerraCycle, are onto a new one: cigarette butts, the most common litter items on the planet. (And much, much worse items, but that comes later.) So bring 'em on. Let neither stinkiness nor sogginess nor other manner of nastiness be a barrier. Once in hand, the company will "sanitize" and sort the butts, sending the paper and tobacco to a specialty tobacco composter. The filters will be melted and re-formed into pellets, eventually to end up as two different but butt-worthy items - ashtrays and park benches. For every 1,000 butts sent in by a TerraCycle member (find out more atwww.terracycle.com), a dollar will go to the national anti-littering nonprofit, Keep America Beautiful. Szaky said the new butt program "will help to promote our belief that everything can and should be recycled." It's part of his plan to "eliminate the idea of waste." Targeting butts should be easy. They're everywhere. A 2009 Keep America Beautiful study found that 65 percent of cigarette butts wind up as litter. In a quarter century of beach cleanups, volunteers for the Ocean Conservancy have picked up more than 52 million butts - the most pervasive item they find. Many beaches now limit smoking to designated areas. Campuses fed up with spending thousands of dollars picking up the things have considered bans. Still the butts come. They are more than unsightly. Peer-reviewed studies have detailed how metals leach from smoked cigarettes. And how chemicals in the butts are harmful to fish, which is relevant because many butts wind up in waterways. Even when butts are picked up - or not littered to begin with - they add to the waste stream piling up in our landfills. Keep America Beautiful has actually studied butt locales. Most (85 percent) wind up on the open ground, followed by bushes or shrubbery, then around - not in - trash receptacles. The final 15 percent get stubbed out in planters.

Tom Szaky collects the most disgusting things. Yucky yogurt containers. Sticky candy wrappers. Old flip-flops. Now, he and his Trenton company, TerraCycle, are onto a new one: cigarette butts, the most common litter items on the planet. (And much, much worse items, but that comes later.) So bring 'em on. Let neither stinkiness nor sogginess nor other manner of nastiness be a barrier. Once in hand, the company will "sanitize" and sort the butts, sending the paper and tobacco to a specialty tobacco composter. The filters will be melted and re-formed into pellets, eventually to end up as two different but butt-worthy items - ashtrays and park benches. For every 1,000 butts sent in by a TerraCycle member (find out more atwww.terracycle.com), a dollar will go to the national anti-littering nonprofit, Keep America Beautiful. Szaky said the new butt program "will help to promote our belief that everything can and should be recycled." It's part of his plan to "eliminate the idea of waste." Targeting butts should be easy. They're everywhere. A 2009 Keep America Beautiful study found that 65 percent of cigarette butts wind up as litter. In a quarter century of beach cleanups, volunteers for the Ocean Conservancy have picked up more than 52 million butts - the most pervasive item they find. Many beaches now limit smoking to designated areas. Campuses fed up with spending thousands of dollars picking up the things have considered bans. Still the butts come. They are more than unsightly. Peer-reviewed studies have detailed how metals leach from smoked cigarettes. And how chemicals in the butts are harmful to fish, which is relevant because many butts wind up in waterways. Even when butts are picked up - or not littered to begin with - they add to the waste stream piling up in our landfills. Keep America Beautiful has actually studied butt locales. Most (85 percent) wind up on the open ground, followed by bushes or shrubbery, then around - not in - trash receptacles. The final 15 percent get stubbed out in planters.