Los Angeles, CA, April 05, 2013 --(PR.com)-- Industry Intelligence Inc., a market intelligence and information management company serving the forest products, packaging, and food and beverage industries, today announced it will offer a webinar with Tom Szaky, the CEO of TerraCycle, on April 17. In this presentation, Szaky will share his thoughts on the state of sustainable packaging and the paths he sees for the consumer packaged goods (CPG) industry in the face of the rising resource costs, packaging taxes and extended producer responsibility (EPR) laws.

There is profitability in waste. Join Tom Szaky, CEO of TerraCycle, as he shares his thoughts on the state of sustainable packaging and the paths he sees for the CPG industry in the face of the rising costs of resources, packaging taxes and EPR laws. Tom will tell how TerraCycle has helped hundreds of brands turn wasted packaging into massive brand equity and consumer engagement.

Tom Szaky, 30, is the founder and CEO of TerraCycle, Inc., one of the world’s foremost leaders in eco-capitalism, recycling and upcycling. In 2006, Inc Magazine named TerraCycle “The Coolest Little Startup in America.” That same year Szaky was named the “Number-One CEO in America Under 30.” Szaky came to the U.S. in 2001 when he matriculated as a Princeton University freshman. In 2002, he took a leave of absence to dedicate himself full-time to starting TerraCycle, which began as a two-man outfit in a dorm room in Princeton. Today, TerraCycle runs packaging reclamation and post-consumer waste solution programs for major CPG companies, such as Kraft Foods, Nestle, L'Oreal, Mars, GSK, Kimberly-Clark Professional and many more. TerraCycle has expanded these recycling and upcycling fundraisers — which pay schools and non-profits to collect used packaging and products — into 20 countries, including Canada, Mexico, Argentina, Brazil, the UK, Ireland, Israel and Turkey. In 2010, TerraCycle was named the 288th fastest growing privately held company in America in Inc Magazine’s annual listing, the Inc 500. In four years of running free recycling programs, TerraCycle has collected over 3 billion units of waste and donated over $4 million to schools and non-profits. In 2012, TerraCycle is projecting roughly $15 million in revenue.

One man’s trash is another’s treasure — and Tom Szaky is living proof. The Hungarian native’s fascination with trash goes back a long way. While studying at Princeton, he and his mates cultivated a huge worm farm, which they fed with cafeteria waste. They then sold the resulting Worm Poop (very effective fertilizer, or so we’ve heard) in bottles they’d found in the trash. It was a win-win: they made money, and the project was environmentally friendly too. Fast forward to 2012, and Tom, as the founder and CEO of TerraCycle, Inc, one of the world’s foremost leaders in eco-capitalism, recycling and upcycling, was named #1 CEO in America Under 30 by Inc. Magazine. Today, with a projected $15 million in revenue and clients like Kraft Foods, Nestle, L’Oreal, Mars, GSK and Kimberly-Clark Professional, TerraCycle is a post-consumer waste solution force to be reckoned with. They’re even teaming up with cigarette companies — talk about an odd couple! TerraCycle isn’t just good business — it’s ‘good’ business. They’ve expanded their recycling and upcycling fundraisers, which pay schools and nonprofits to collect used packaging and products, into 20 countries, including Canada, Mexico, Argentina, Brasil, UK, Ireland, most EU countries, Israel and Turkey.

There is profitability in waste. Join Tom Szaky, CEO of TerraCycle, as he shares his thoughts on the state of sustainable packaging and the paths he sees for the CPG industry in the face of the rising costs of resources, packaging taxes and EPR laws. He will tell how TerraCycle has helped hundreds of brands turn wasted packaging into massive brand equity and consumer engagement.

London Drugs has introduced recycling collection boxes for beauty-product packaging and chocolate wrappers at all 75 of their stores. The recycling program is in partnership with TerraCycle, Garnier and Nestlé.

TerraCycle Canada is determined to keep as much waste from school lunches out of the landfill as possible. And it’s offering money to schools as an incentive. Founded in 2001, the international upcycling company collects used packaging (juice pouches, plastic bags, wrappers) and hard-to-recycle products (flip-flops, cosmetics, pens) and gives them new life as funky pencil cases, plastic garbage bins and park benches.

While most of his peers were at the library, or the bar, college freshmen Tom Szaky was busy launching a business out of his dorm room. For his first product he turned worm-poop into fertilizer as a way to transform waste into something useful. Since then he’s turned that first product into a multi-million dollar business Terracycle, with clients including Walmart and Home Depot. Inspiyr spoke with Tom about the mission of Terracycle, his favorite type of trash, and some advice for budding entrepreneurs or anyone looking to achieve their dreams.

By Karen Creed-Thompson from EcoParent magazine - www.ecoparent.ca Founded in 2001 by Toronto native Tom Szaky, TerraCycle is a world leader in the collection and reuse of post-consumer waste. Actively collecting non-recyclable or hard to recycle materials and turning them into affordable green products, TerraCycle Canada has collected 4,038,378 units of waste to date and is forecasting 6,800,000 units for 2012, with its international operations collecting over 2.8 billion units of waste globally. TerraCycle Canada works with more than 14 major brands to collect used packaging and products that would otherwise be destined for landfills. Glad, Mr. Christie’s, Nestlé, Sally’s, Tassimo, Kool-Aid, Huggies and Garnier are just a few of the corporate giants already on board. The company’s Mississauga warehouse is filled with stockpiles of used products like sandwich bags, drink pouches, pens, inkjet cartridges, e-waste... and an assortment of other packaging from cookies, to personal care products. (A complete list of items for collection can be found at www. terracycle.ca.) All of this waste was reclaimed through TerraCycle’s Brigade® programs, which pay individuals and groups for the items they collect.