Parents and kids at the K-2 school finished fifth in a statewide recycling contest sponsored by TerraCycle, a company started by a Princeton University dropout who sold organic “worm poop” fertilizer in used soda bottles and then branched out to make lunch bags, fences and other products from hard-to-recycle materials. TerraCycle partners with major brands to create products from packaging that otherwise might pose a public relations problem for them. The company was founded in 2001 by Tom Szaky, then a 20-year-old freshman at Princeton. When his worm fertilizer idea only finished fourth in the Princeton Business Plan Contest, he left school to develop the concept and won a $1 million competition. He turned down the money to retain control of the company. TerraCycle now operates from a Trenton headquarters decorated by graffiti artists. The company has turned nearly 2 billion pieces of trash into a line of 246 recycled and “upcycled” products sold by the likes of Walmart and Whole Foods Market. More than $1.6 million has been generated for schools and charities. On Earth Day 2009, Tom Szaky published Revolution in a Bottle: How TerraCycle is Redefining Green Business.

Many major brands are getting on board with upcycling.  Scott tissue and Huggies are sponsoring programs to collect plastic packaging waste from paper products and diapers. And since most oral hygiene products aren’t recyclable, Colgate and TerraCycle have partnered to collect used toothbrushes and toothpaste tubes.

Maxwell Elementary School pupils are saving the world. And they recently received an award for their efforts. Lynn Davidson/McDuffie Mirror TerraCycle Inc. named the school among the Top 100 in the nation for recycling drink pouches. Lauren Taylor, of TerraCycle, said Maxwell Elementary was ranked because it had collected 44,517 drink pouches by October. "Obviously, the children there are passionate about recycling and aware of what steps they can take to protect the environment," Ms. Taylor said. "It's great to see them taking part in such a large-scale project." A certificate in a frame made from shredded drink pouches was sent to the school and presented during a faculty meeting on Wednesday, Jan. 19. Maxwell Elementary was one of only four elementary schools in Georgia to receive the recognition, according to Ms. Taylor. TerraCycle provides free waste-collection programs for hard-to-recycle materials. The company transforms the waste into affordable green products, according to its Web site. The company recently reached a milestone. It has collected 50 million drink pouches -- the equivalent to 20 school buses in weight, 480 football fields in length, enough to stretch across the Grand Canyon nine times if laid side-by-side. "So, the children at Maxwell Elementary helped because the 44,000 they collected contributed to that," Ms. Taylor said. TerraCycle collects drink pouches, soda bottles, chip bags, candy and gum wrappers, zip-close bags, cheese wrappers, coffee containers and Lunchable containers and turns them into tote bags, lunch bags, book bags, coolers, clipboards, picture frames, bottles, fences and other items, which are sold at Target, Kmart, Walmart, The Home Depot and via its Web site, www.terracycleshop.com.

Legacy Traditional School in Casa Grande recently has been named part of America’s Best Brigade for 2010 for being one of the top 100 schools in the nation in a recycling program for drink containers. TerraCycle’s Drink Pouch Brigade has helped the organization reach the milestone of 50 million pouches collected and $1 million paid to schools and nonprofits.  Legacy sent its first shipment of Capri Sun drink pouches in December 2009. In the past 12 months, the school has collected more than 47,000.

Tortilla and tostadas in low-density polyethylene (LDPE) plastic bags from brands such as Gruma Corp.’s Mission and Guerrero, which bag their tortillas and tostadas in low-density polyethylene (LDPE) plastic film, are being “upcycled” via the services of New Jersey-based TerraCycle, which will reclaim the tortilla packaging and use it to make new tortilla holders and other consumer products. It will also collect packaging from the companies' dips and salsas.

TerraCycle continues to expand its reach into all types of packaging waste with its latest collection programs for tortilla and cheese bags. The New Jersey-based upcycling company will take the tortilla packaging and use it to make new tortilla holders and other consumer products. It will also collect packaging from the companies' dips and salsas. TerraCycle already collects waste from various Kraft Foods products like Capri Sun and Lunchables, and will now take packaging from its Kraft Naturals, Velveeta, Philadelphia, Athenos and other cheese products.

Kraft Foods has added cheese packaging to its TerraCycle collection programs. Called the Cheese Brigade, TerraCycle and Kraft Foods will pay postage and two cents per unit of packaging to a charity of the collector’s choice for any packaging from Kraft Naturals, Philadelphia, Philly, Athenos, Kraft Singles, macaroni and cheese, Easy Mac, Cracker Barrel, Polly-O, Breakstone, Velveeta and Knudsen. TerraCycle finds new uses for the packaging, thereby keeping it out of landfills. Kraft Foods has had previous success with upcycling packaging with its Capri Sun, Nabisco and Lunchables products.

Terracycle upcycles consumer waste into new salable goods. They primarily harvest their raw material from schoolchildren as part of charity drives, though they are now placing recycling stations at certain Walmart stores. At the Walmart centers they pay 3 cents per piece, but only for a narrow range of product packaging; the website supports a wider range of recyclables. The spirit of the project is wonderful, but the problem is that it creates zombie advertising and branding for these undead consumer objects. Which is actually not all that surprising, as the Walmart program is sponsored by the very brands whose packaging are featured in the upcycled goods.

Terracycle upcycles consumer waste into new salable goods. They primarily harvest their raw material from schoolchildren as part of charity drives, though they are now placing recycling stations at certain Walmart stores. At the Walmart centers they pay 3 cents per piece, but only for a narrow range of product packaging; the website supports a wider range of recyclables.

.”  After the students empty the pouches and remove the straw, Mrs. Janis slits the bottom, rinses them out with water (to discourage “critters” while the pouches await shipment) and dries them, usually on her clothesline.  “I am old-school enough to have two at my home.” Then they are sorted, counted and packaged in boxes for free shipment to TerraCycle in New Jersey. This upstart company, founded by a Princeton graduate, takes this waste and “upcyles” them into cool new products, like juice pouch pencil bags, tote bags, backpacks, and lunchboxes. More importantly, they reward nonprofits with approximately two cents for each pouch they collect.