A company that focuses on hard-to-recycle plastic materials says new partnerships with brand owners and increased sales of mail-in recycling boxes drove better financial results during the first half of 2019.   New Jersey-headquartered TerraCycle US reported $11.2 million in net sales during the first six months of the year, up 18.8% over the same period in 2018. Its income before taxes was $2.3 million, up 174.7%. Its gross profit margin was 56.5%, up from 45.2% from a year ago.   The semi-annual report was filed on Sept. 24 with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). TerraCycle reports financial information to the SEC because it launched a $25 million stock offering last year. As of Sept. 24, 2019, the company has raised over $9 million from the sale of the securities.   TerraCycle collects difficult-to-recycle materials mostly via mail-in in programs. Much of what it handles are mixes of scrap HDPE/PET and PP/PE.   The company aggregates and sorts material before sending it to reclaimers, which generally process it into pellets on behalf of TerraCycle. TerraCycle then sells the pellets to manufacturers for injection molding or extruding into containers or plastic lumber.   In rare cases, the plastics reclaimer will outright buy the scrap materials from TerraCycle. For example, Pennsylvania-based reclaimer Ultra-Poly, which also does toll processing for TerraCycle, has outright purchased certain PP and PE blends from the company.   Most of TerraCycle’s revenue comes from four separate operating segments. The following are first half 2019 financial numbers broken down by segment (income numbers are before taxes):  

Sponsored Waste Collection Programs

• Net sales: $4.4 million, up 45%
• Income: $1.8 million, up 108%

  This TerraCycle segment is also called “brand partnerships” or “brand sponsored collection programs.” Through it, brand owners pay the shipping, sorting and processing costs incurred when consumers mail their products to TerraCycle for recycling.   Consumers receive charity points they can use to make donations to nonprofit groups.   To drive the 2019 sales increase in this segment, TerraCycle signed deals with the following companies to launch programs: Calbee, Earth Animal, Gillette, LOL Surprise, Limelife by Alcone, Mountain House, Weleda, Martini & Rossi Frose, and Herbal Essences.  

Zero Waste boxes

• Net sales: $2.8 million, up 61.8%
• Income: $1 million, up 98.8%

  This division focuses on selling prepaid shipping boxes to consumers who want to mail in recyclables not sponsored by a brand owner. The price of the box covers the costs of material handling and processing.   TerraCycle also provides private-label box services for companies and distributors that seek to offer a recycling option as part of their sale or service.   During the first half of the year, sales of boxes through the website continued to grow and now average $300,000 per month, according to TerraCycle.   Additionally, the company signed new partnerships to provide private-label boxes for the following companies: Williams and Sonoma (for recycling of coffee capsules), Dillard’s (beauty products), Vans (footwear), GrainPro (feed bags), Reebok (clothing), GPJ Experiential Marketing (name tags and lanyards), Nature Valley (candy and snack wrappers), Barilla (plastic packaging and compost), HBI International (cigarette waste).  

Material sales

• Net sales: $273,000, down 80.4%
• Income: Loss of $845,000, down 54.8%

  This segment is responsible for selling recyclables (usually plastics) collected through the sponsored waste and Zero Waste boxes programs.   TerraCycle attributed the large decrease in material sales during the first half of 2019 to the timing of closing large deals. “While two larger sales were finalized in the first half of 2018, we [were] in the process of completing equally large deals in the second half of 2019, which will put us in line or potentially above the total revenue of the prior year,” according to TerraCycle.   This year, this segment also launched its largest retail recycling program, working with Walmart to collect car seats at 4,200 stores.   Company staff have continued to find buyers for TerraCycle’s recovered materials faster than predicted and budgeted, according to the company. “This performance has produced savings in expected cost of revenues and reduces budgeted warehouse spend,” according to the semi-annual report.

Regulated waste:

• Net sales: $3.5 million, down 5.3%
• Income: Loss of $11,000, down 104%

  This segment manages lamps and bulbs, batteries, scrap electronics, organic waste, medical waste and other materials.   This decrease was “partially impacted by the disruption of moving to new systems to integrate with the rest of the company.” TerraCycle on Oct. 31, 2017 acquired Chicago-based Air Cycle Corporation for $3.3 million and used it to launch the current regulated waste division.   A version of this story appeared in Resource Recycling on October 1.

Global health and hygiene company Reckitt Benckiser Group (RB), which makes popular consumer brands including Mucinex and Enfamil and is headquartered in the U.K., has announced it entered into a partnership with TerraCycle, Trenton, New Jersey, to offer consumers with a simple, free way to recycle their consumer goods packaging. According to a news release from TerraCycle, the RB Health & Nutrition Recycling Program will accept packaging waste from all brands of vitamins and supplements, upper respiratory, sexual health and well-being, infant formula and child nutrition, personal care items and foot care items.   The Healthy You, Healthy Planet partnership with TerraCycle to recycle all health and nutrition packaging is the next step in achieving RB’s global commitments to support a more sustainable future, which also includes reducing product packaging and eliminating waste through innovation, according to a news release from TerraCycle.   “At RB, we know how important protecting the future of our planet is to our consumers so we’ve partnered with TerraCycle to make it simple for anyone to take an active interest in the environment and recycle their packaging waste,” says Nitish Kapoor, executive vice president of RB North America Health Brands. “People buy millions of RB health products from brands like Enfamil and Mucinex every week, so offering free, national recyclability for the packaging is simply the right thing to do. This program is part of RB's ongoing commitment to creating a circular economy, which also includes making 100 percent of our packaging recyclable or reusable, while using at least 25 percent recycled plastic content in our packaging by 2025.”   Through the RB Health & Nutrition Recycling Program, packaging waste from the following categories will be recycled, including:  

• vitamins, minerals and supplements packaging, such as blister packs, tubes, bottles, cans, boxes, caps and lids
• sexual health and well-being packaging, such as tubes, bottles, wrappers, cans, boxes, caps and lids;
• cough, cold, flu, sore throat and nasal care packaging, such as bottles, tubes, spray bottles, blister packs, caps and lids;
• infant formula and child nutrition packaging, such as tubs, bottles, wrappers, cans, boxes, caps and lids; and,
• personal care and foot care packaging, such as tubes, bottles, caps, lids and other plastic packaging.

  From vitamin bottles and caps to infant formula tubs, TerraCycle will clean and melt the collected product packaging into hard plastic that can be remolded to make new recycled products. The RB Health & Nutrition Recycling Program is open to any interested individual, school, day care, fitness facility, health care office, office or community organization.   “At TerraCycle, our mission has always been to ‘Eliminate the Idea of Waste’ and its recycling initiatives like the RB Health & Nutrition Recycling Program that drive awareness of single-use packaging epidemic. These programs elicit positive change in the consumer and ultimately lead to the preservation of our environment for future generations to come,” says Tom Szaky, TerraCycle CEO.   TerraCycle financial results   Trenton-based TerraCycle US Inc., the U.S. subsidiary of international recycling leader TerraCycle Inc., has announced its financial results for the second quarter of 2019, ending June 30. The company’s revenue rose to $11.2 million, representing a 16 percent year-over-year growth over second quarter of 2018 revenues of $9.5 million, TerraCycle reports in a news release. Net income more than doubled to $1.8 million, marking 67 percent year-over-year growth over the second quarter of 2018’s net income of $603,000.   During the first two quarters of 2019, the company surpassed its prior year’s total number of new contracts and new programs. Additionally, the company reports that it’s continuing to invest in its workforce, increasing its U.S.-based staff by 10 percent over the prior year.   In addition, TerraCycle’s Regulation A capital raise is approaching $10 million, the company reports.  TerraCycle has attracted investment in its Regulation A offering from ITOCHU Corp., a 100-year-old, $50 billion revenue Japanese trading company. ITOCHU, a large broker of plastic, will work with TerraCycle to expand the market for postconsumer plastics and in particular will develop and sell plastics that come from generally nonrecycled waste streams.   "Our mission at TerraCycle has always been to eliminate waste, recycle the unrecyclable and use our innovative business solutions to minimize human impact on the planet,” says TerraCycle CEO Tom Szaky. “During the course of our 18-year history, we’ve successfully translated our passion for what we do into an established company built on a strong financial foundation with sustained earnings and growth.”   Using third-party logistics and facilities, TerraCycle converts collected waste into raw materials that are sold to and used by manufacturers to create new products. Examples of waste streams collected and recycled by TerraCycle include chip bags, coffee capsules, cigarette butts, oral care, beauty care, writing utensils and more than 100 other waste streams in the U.S., TerraCycle reports in a news release on its second-quarter earnings.  

Global health and hygiene company Reckitt Benckiser Group (RB), which makes popular consumer brands including Mucinex and Enfamil and is headquartered in the U.K., has announced it entered into a partnership with TerraCycle, Trenton, New Jersey, to offer consumers with a simple, free way to recycle their consumer goods packaging. According to a news release from TerraCycle, the RB Health & Nutrition Recycling Program will accept packaging waste from all brands of vitamins and supplements, upper respiratory, sexual health and well-being, infant formula and child nutrition, personal care items and foot care items.   The Healthy You, Healthy Planet partnership with TerraCycle to recycle all health and nutrition packaging is the next step in achieving RB’s global commitments to support a more sustainable future, which also includes reducing product packaging and eliminating waste through innovation, according to a news release from TerraCycle.   “At RB, we know how important protecting the future of our planet is to our consumers so we’ve partnered with TerraCycle to make it simple for anyone to take an active interest in the environment and recycle their packaging waste,” says Nitish Kapoor, executive vice president of RB North America Health Brands. “People buy millions of RB health products from brands like Enfamil and Mucinex every week, so offering free, national recyclability for the packaging is simply the right thing to do. This program is part of RB's ongoing commitment to creating a circular economy, which also includes making 100 percent of our packaging recyclable or reusable, while using at least 25 percent recycled plastic content in our packaging by 2025.”   Through the RB Health & Nutrition Recycling Program, packaging waste from the following categories will be recycled, including:  

• vitamins, minerals and supplements packaging, such as blister packs, tubes, bottles, cans, boxes, caps and lids
• sexual health and well-being packaging, such as tubes, bottles, wrappers, cans, boxes, caps and lids;
• cough, cold, flu, sore throat and nasal care packaging, such as bottles, tubes, spray bottles, blister packs, caps and lids;
• infant formula and child nutrition packaging, such as tubs, bottles, wrappers, cans, boxes, caps and lids; and,
• personal care and foot care packaging, such as tubes, bottles, caps, lids and other plastic packaging.

  From vitamin bottles and caps to infant formula tubs, TerraCycle will clean and melt the collected product packaging into hard plastic that can be remolded to make new recycled products. The RB Health & Nutrition Recycling Program is open to any interested individual, school, day care, fitness facility, health care office, office or community organization.   “At TerraCycle, our mission has always been to ‘Eliminate the Idea of Waste’ and its recycling initiatives like the RB Health & Nutrition Recycling Program that drive awareness of single-use packaging epidemic. These programs elicit positive change in the consumer and ultimately lead to the preservation of our environment for future generations to come,” says Tom Szaky, TerraCycle CEO.   TerraCycle financial results   Trenton-based TerraCycle US Inc., the U.S. subsidiary of international recycling leader TerraCycle Inc., has announced its financial results for the second quarter of 2019, ending June 30. The company’s revenue rose to $11.2 million, representing a 16 percent year-over-year growth over second quarter of 2018 revenues of $9.5 million, TerraCycle reports in a news release. Net income more than doubled to $1.8 million, marking 67 percent year-over-year growth over the second quarter of 2018’s net income of $603,000.   During the first two quarters of 2019, the company surpassed its prior year’s total number of new contracts and new programs. Additionally, the company reports that it’s continuing to invest in its workforce, increasing its U.S.-based staff by 10 percent over the prior year.   In addition, TerraCycle’s Regulation A capital raise is approaching $10 million, the company reports.  TerraCycle has attracted investment in its Regulation A offering from ITOCHU Corp., a 100-year-old, $50 billion revenue Japanese trading company. ITOCHU, a large broker of plastic, will work with TerraCycle to expand the market for postconsumer plastics and in particular will develop and sell plastics that come from generally nonrecycled waste streams.   "Our mission at TerraCycle has always been to eliminate waste, recycle the unrecyclable and use our innovative business solutions to minimize human impact on the planet,” says TerraCycle CEO Tom Szaky. “During the course of our 18-year history, we’ve successfully translated our passion for what we do into an established company built on a strong financial foundation with sustained earnings and growth.”   Using third-party logistics and facilities, TerraCycle converts collected waste into raw materials that are sold to and used by manufacturers to create new products. Examples of waste streams collected and recycled by TerraCycle include chip bags, coffee capsules, cigarette butts, oral care, beauty care, writing utensils and more than 100 other waste streams in the U.S., TerraCycle reports in a news release on its second-quarter earnings.  

A company that focuses on hard-to-recycle materials says new partnerships with brand owners and increased sales of mail-in recycling boxes drove better financial results during the first half of 2019.   New Jersey-headquartered TerraCycle reported $11.2 million in net sales during the first six months of the year, up 18.8% over the same period in 2018. Its income before taxes was $2.3 million, up 174.7%. Its gross profit margin was 56.5%, up from 45.2% from a year ago.   The semi-annual report was filed on Sept. 24 with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). TerraCycle reports financial information to the SEC because it launched a $25 million stock offering last year. As of Sept. 24, 2019, the company has raised over $9 million from the sale of the securities.   TerraCycle collects difficult-to-recycle materials mostly via mail-in in programs. It then aggregates and sorts material before sending it to processors and then on to manufacturers.   Most of its revenue comes from four separate operating segments. The following are first half 2019 financial numbers broken down by segment (income numbers are before taxes):  

Sponsored Waste Collection Programs

• Net sales: $4.4 million, up 45%
• Income: $1.8 million, up 108%

  This TerraCycle segment is also called brand partnerships or Brand Sponsored Collection Programs. Through it, brand owners pay the shipping, sorting and processing costs incurred when consumers mail their products to TerraCycle for recycling.   Consumers receive charity points they can use to make donations to nonprofit groups.   To drive the 2019 sales increase in this segment, TerraCycle signed deals with the following companies to launch programs: Calbee, Earth Animal, Gillette, LOL Surprise, Limelife by Alcone, Mountain House, Weleda, Martini & Rossi Frose, and Herbal Essences.  

Zero Waste boxes

• Net sales: $2.8 million, up 61.8%
• Income: $1 million, up 98.8%

  This division focuses on selling prepaid shipping boxes to consumers who want to mail in recyclables not sponsored by a brand owner. The price of the box covers the costs of material handling and processing.   TerraCycle also provides private-label box services for companies and distributors that seek to offer a recycling option as part of their sale or service.   During the first half of the year, sales of boxes through the website continued to grow and now average $300,000 per month, according to TerraCycle.   Additionally, the company signed new partnerships to provide private-label boxes for the following companies: Williams and Sonoma (for recycling of coffee capsules), Dillard’s (beauty products), Vans (footwear), GrainPro (feed bags), Reebok (clothing), GPJ Experiential Marketing (name tags and lanyards), Nature Valley (candy and snack wrappers), Barilla (plastic packaging and compost), HBI International (cigarette waste).  

Material sales

• Net sales: $273,000, down 80.4%
• Income: Loss of $845,000, down 54.8%

  This segment is responsible for selling recyclables (usually plastics) collected through the sponsored waste and Zero Waste boxes programs. Most often, an outside recycling company will process the scrap plastics into pellets on behalf of TerraCycle, which then sells the pellets to manufacturers for injection molding or extruding into containers or plastic lumber (in rare cases, the plastics reclaimer will outright buy the scrap materials from TerraCycle).   TerraCycle attributed the large decrease in material sales during the first half of 2019 to the timing of closing large deals. “While two larger sales were finalized in the first half of 2018, we [were] in the process of completing equally large deals in the second half of 2019, which will put us in line or potentially above the total revenue of the prior year,” according to TerraCycle.   This year, this segment also launched its largest retail recycling program, working with Walmart to collect car seats at 4,200 stores.   Company staff have continued to find buyers for TerraCycle’s recovered materials faster than predicted and budgeted, according to the company. “This performance has produced savings in expected cost of revenues and reduces budgeted warehouse spend,” according to the semi-annual report.  

Regulated waste:

• Net sales: $3.5 million, down 5.3%
• Income: Loss of $11,000, down 104%

  This segment manages lamps and bulbs, batteries, scrap electronics, organic waste, medical waste and other materials.   This decrease was “partially impacted by the disruption of moving to new systems to integrate with the rest of the company.” TerraCycle on Oct. 31, 2017 acquired Chicago-based Air Cycle Corporation for $3.3 million and used it to launch the current regulated waste division.