The designers at TerraCycle refer to themselves as "junkies." The Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders may not recognize job addiction, but after speaking with the company's resident design junkies, it is not hard to imagine withdrawal symptoms on days off. Not simply because the Trenton, New Jersey-based recycling and upcycling firm does eco-friendly work, but because so much of what they do, or fail to do is an exercise in recombinant aesthetics.

As the online community dives into game play with Trash Tycoon via Facebook, they take on the role of recycling entrepreneurs by collecting litter in a trash-strewn city and upcycling waste into higher-quality, environmentally friendly products. Upcycling, a process in which discarded waste is repurposed for use, can range from building a house of abandoned material to finding innovative uses for discarded plastic bags. After completing missions, users collect money and earn points to ultimately earn the title of garbage tycoons. The game's trash-tackling premise directly mirrors that of its sponsor, TerraCycle. "Something as simple as a social game where players earn points for recycling in the real world is capable of changing people's behavior for the better," says Raviv Turner, co-founder and CEO of Guerillapps. "We've organically integrated real-world recycling goals into the game to ensure that players have fun and see Trash Tycoon first and foremost as a game, while at the same time presenting a proactive approach for more mindful actions as users approach real-life situations with acquired knowledge from Trash Tycoon."

ReNual CEO Alicia Korten interviews Albe Zakes from Terracycle on how the company is turning garbage into gold

Com mais de 170 mil participantes, a Brigada Tang se tornou o maior programa de reciclagem da América Latina criado em parceria com a empresa americana de reaproveitamento de resíduos TerraCycle.

A new game on Facebook is the first to highlight the concept of upcycling, where trash is turned into valuable products rather than thrown away. Manhattan-based startup Guerillapps created Trash Tycoon, where players take the role of recycling entrepreneurs. They collect litter in a trash strewn city and upcycle the waste into higher quality, environmentally responsible products. They earn points and can ultimately earn the title of garbage tycoon. The game's trash-tackling premise directly mirrors that of sponsor TerraCycle in the real world .

TerraCycle, a company that specializes in the collection and reuse of non-recyclable post-consumer waste, is sponsoring a sustainability-themed social game for Facebook. Created by Manhattan-based startup Guerillapps , the game, called Trash Tycoon , is the first ever to highlight the concept of upcycling.

Social games maker Guerillapps has teamed up with CarbonFund.org, TreeHugger, and Terracycle to launch Trash Tycoon, a game designed to encourage “upcycling”—the process of converting trash into usable products. Instead of planting crops or building cities as in FarmVille or CityVille, in Trash Tycoon the player cleans up trash, builds worm farms, and tries to convert what starts off as a mess into a vibrant “upcycling” community. According to Guerillapps co-founder Raviv Turner, the game is aimed at educating and motivating consumers “to do the right thing.”

En ny trend inden for kaffedrikning vinder stor fremgang – nemlig kaffe på kapsler. Nyeste skud på stammen Tassimo, der gør det muligt at genbruge kapslerne.  Det er Kraft Foods og Bosch, der står bag den nye kaffemaskine, Tassimo, som især adskiller sig ved, at kapslerne kan indsendes til genbrug. Det betyder, at man efter brug kan indsende de brugte kapsler og folie til det innovative genbrugssystem TerraCycle, hvorefter kapsler og folie vilblive genanvendt i andre produkter.

Despite their growing global presence and epic partnerships, TerraCycle is unsurprisingly still down to earth -- and we mean down. Employees recently put their quirky upcycled designs to use by renovating their entire Trenton, New Jersey offices with waste material. Mountains of vinyl records, juice boxes, water bottles, and even bowling lanes became desks, dividers, lamps, and conference room tables. Hit the jump for a look at the inspiration-inducing space! We here at Inhabitat have long been huge fans of TerraCycle’s fun and fresh upcycled products and events throughout New York. Now their recent, homemade office renovations solidify their reputation as the hippest and possibly most committed waste repurposing company around.