Recycling in the workplace goes beyond a bin for unused paper and containers for aluminum cans and empty bottles of water. There are also pens, markers, tape dispensers and even cell phones that can be recycled. These items may not be the first things that come to mind when thinking of office recyclables, but they can definitely be put to good use at the end of their life. One company is working to take these types of products and upcycle them into new items: TerraCycle. TerraCycle works in a series of brigades. These brigades are designed to collect items that aren’t traditionally recycled and then upcycle them into new consumer goods. In addition to keeping these products out of landfills, the brigades also serve as fundraising tools for schools, churches and nonprofit organizations.

When Tom Szaky sees a discarded juice pouch, he doesn't see garbabe; he sees a pencil case. An old vinyl LP cries out for new life as a clock. Candy wrappers? An awesome kite. But these are not the musings of an idealistic tree hugger. For the 28-year-old CEO of Trenton, New Jersey-based TerraCycle, they're a revenue model.

ROANOKE RAPIDS — Making moves to enrich the environment and their education is what some 4th graders at Belmont Elementary School in Roanoke Rapids have been up to lately. Working with a company called TerraCycle, the Belmont students help turn some of their trash into useful products and help raise money for a program bringing them closer to the environment their recycling efforts help protect. “It’s teaching them a lot about recycling,” said Heather Karns, a teacher involved in the program at Belmont. “After their soccer games, the kids will bring back a pile of the Capri-Sun pouches and instead of throwing them out, they bring them in for recycling.”

Fourth-grade teacher Stephanie Gawbdzinski’s worried that she’s going to be asked how to spell her last name. But Gawbdzinski had an easier task on Tuesday: describing how Thomas Obbink, her student at Sunrise Elementary, came up with a plan that would save the environment and earn money for the school. “Thomas is our class recycling expert,” she said. The student hates to see anything thrown out that might be recycled or put to work with a new use, Gawbdzinski says. An empty Kleenex box in the trash is likely to be retrieved and turned into an impromptu pencil box.

TerraCycle's goal is singular: To solve the problem of waste. We have not taken positions on the products that we collect, similar to how recycling companies accept products of any brand that fit their capacity to recycle. But here's where it gets interesting—We've been approached by a tobacco company to collect and turn cigarette butts into new eco-friendly products. What do you think? Is doing business with a cigarette company any different than any of the other companies whose waste we collect? Or is this somehow different? If so, how?