Most municipalities don’t collect all kinds of plastics. Most people don’t take the effort to sort trash or clean out bottles before tossing them to the curb. Compostable packaging is “too noisy” or “doesn’t feel right”. Most single-use packaging is non-recyclable. Products lose shelf-life and consumer safety by switching to a different type of packaging. Brands face numerous challenges in strengthening the eco-friendly features of their products especially the packaging, and consumers often have no options for recycling or reusing the product or its packaging. Research to create eco-friendly packaging, implementation of more responsible packaging, and the packaging itself is often more expensive than the alternative.  This cost drives up the price and drives away customers regardless of the social or environmental benefits. For brands that want to stay competitive while also becoming more responsible, these problems must be solved.

TerraCycle offers collection programs that regularly collect waste from more than 14 million people in 11 countries and convert it into more than 1500 new products and materials. Many of the collection programs are free and focus on waste that is not recyclable via traditional methods. The items are then sold at a variety of retailers, including Walmart and Whole Foods Market. The program was founded in 2011 and aims to eliminate the entire concept of ''waste'' by proving that everything we throw away is actually reusable. Tom Szaky began TerraCycle when he was just a 20-year old college freshman attending Princeton University and started by producing organic fertilizer that was packaged in used soda pop bottles.

TerraCycle: http://www.terracycle.net is a great company doing great things with previously useless trash. They turn Starburst wrappers into messenger bags and chip bags into park benches. And they get those wrappers and bags from community collection brigades and directly from the companies whom might have extra packaging to get rid of. So, the upside is that those items are being kept out of the landfills where they may never decompose at all because of the science behind aerobic and anaerobic digestion.

The “trashy” folks over at TerraCycle are always looking for ways to keep waste out of the landfill by designing easy DIY projects that make reuse and recycling fun.

Debbie Kozell works with TerraCycle to turn garbage into useful products, and to raise money for the Home and School Association.

The “trashy” folks over at TerraCycle are always looking for ways to keep waste out of the landfill by designing easy DIY projects that make reuse and recycling fun.

TerraCycle is an international upcycling company that takes difficult to recycle packaging and turns it into affordable, eco-friendly products.  Founded in 2001, they are the world’s leader in the collection and reuse of non-recyclable post-consumer waste. TerraCycle works with over 30 major brands in the U.S. (and in a growing number of other countries) to collect used packaging and products (chip bags, candy wrappers, juice pouches, pens, toothbrushes, etc.) that would otherwise be destined for landfills. Here are a few of their programs if you are interested in learning more about how YOU can reduce your carbon footprint and upcycle your trash!

To help celebrate Earth Month, Earth Day, Easter and Cinco de Mayo, TerraCycle is launching several campaigns that put a new spin on recycling, making it more creative then ever and easy for everyone to get involved. On April 11, TerraCycle will join with the Garnier Brand to provides the first comprehensive solution for all cosmetic packaging waste.

  To help celebrate Earth Month, Earth Day, Easter and Cinco de Mayo, TerraCycle is launching several campaigns that put a new spin on recycling, making it more creative then ever and easy for everyone to get involved. On April 11, TerraCycle will join with the Garnier Brand to provides the first comprehensive solution for all cosmetic packaging waste. Billions of pieces of waste are expected to be collected by Garnier which will dramatically reduce the amount of waste sent to landfills.  Through the sponsorship of worldwide Cosmetics Brigade, cosmetic packaging will be collected and shipped to a TerraCycle facility. All kinds of cosmetic waste that would otherwise end up in our trash can now be recycled or reused. This is huge. Not too long ago I was discussing reusing and recycling cosmetic waste. Now Garnier and TerraCycle offer a fabulous solution.

TerraCycle got a cover story in the magazine El Empaque, continue reading this post to read the article.