My company, TerraCycle, has a very unusual business model. We turn the world’s waste into new products. We collect non-recyclable waste, some straight from manufacturers and some from schools, charities and other community groups, and we partner with other manufacturers to recycle or “upcycle” that material into new products — like plastic lumber from juice pouches and shower curtains from sewn-together granola wrappers. My channel on this blog will be a diary of our experiences and decisions, our lessons learned and opportunities missed.
Here’s how our model works: eventually all products become waste. Some, like soda bottles, are recyclable but most are not. Major corporations ranging from Kraft Foods to Colgate-Palmolive work with TerraCycle to create solutions for waste that is currently not recyclable — things like toothpaste tubes and cookie wrappers. These companies pay TerraCycle to run collection programs, covering the costs of shipping and typically making a donation of 2 cents for every item collected to the charity or school of the collector’s choice. We also collect post-industrial waste — like excess packaging, misprints, etc. — directly from these corporations
The waste ends up in one of our warehouses, the biggest being right next door to our headquarters in Trenton. Then TerraCycle works with major manufacturing companies to produce products from the collected waste. To accomplish this, TerraCycle’s science team develops a range of materials from each type of waste and then our products team works with the manufacturer to turn the material into something that can be sold. The idea is to lessen the need for virgin materials and render previously non-recyclable items recyclable. The resulting products are then sold at major retailers like Wal-Mart and Target.
That scale that Looptworks' Hamlin is aiming for is already happening on the post-consumer end of the upcycling market. If Etsy is considered the epicenter of do-it-yourself upcycling, then New Jersey-based TerraCycle takes on that same function in mass upcycling. The company turns actual garbage into hundreds of products, like Oreo wrapper backpacks and bicycle chain picture frames. With a large-scale collection infrastructure developed over the past 10 years, TerraCycle nabs about 1 billion pieces of garbage every quarter that ultimately end up on the shelves of big-box retailers like Target and The Home Depot.
Perché non si ricicla tutto? Banalmente, la stragrande maggioranza dei rifiuti che produciamo non è riciclabile industrialmente. Per il resto, invece, il processo di riciclo è molto importante e, in questo senso, la raccolta differenziata è fondamentale. Ma, come già accennato, la quantità di rifiuti che non può essere riciclata è significativamente elevata e non fa altro che riempire discarichespesso già stracolme. Come fare allora per diminuire ulteriormente la quantità di spazzatura non-riciclabile ed evitare l'apertura di nuove discariche? Uno dei metodi più efficaci è rappresentato dal cosiddetto reimpiego, ed è proprio tramite questa modalità che TerraCycle sta diventando un'azienda sempre più riconosciuta a livello internazionale.
Forget recycling. Reusing materials discarded in the manufacturing process is a growing force behind a fresh new industry.
(...)
That scale that Looptworks' Hamlin is aiming for is already happening on the post-consumer end of the upcycling market. If Etsy is considered the epicenter of do-it-yourself upcycling, then New Jersey-based TerraCycle takes on that same function in mass upcycling. The company turns actual garbage into hundreds of products, like Oreo wrapper backpacks and bicycle chain picture frames. With a large-scale collection infrastructure developed over the past 10 years, TerraCycle nabs about 1 billion pieces of garbage every quarter that ultimately end up on the shelves of big-box retailers like Target and The Home Depot.
Tom Szaky, founder and CEO of TerraCycle, started the
operation <
http://www.entrepreneur.com/article/219310#> as a humble provider of worm poop while he was a Princeton University freshman. But over the years the company's increasing fortunes have mirrored the burgeoning opportunities in the green market. In 2009, sales revenue hit $7.5 million; in 2010, it jumped to $20 million. Since January, Szaky has added operations in nine more countries, bringing the total to 20.
There's also serious behind-the-scenes innovation happening. Terra-Cycle employs "polymer scientists" who are immersed in figuring out ways to manipulate paper, organics and plastics into materials like a new plastic lumber and textile made from Capri Sun drink pouches. Meanwhile, teams of designers are figuring out how to make jackets from Doritos bags and luggage from energy bar wrappers.
"The market is ripe for more innovation," Szaky says. "[Valued] at $12.5 million, TerraCycle is, without any debate, the biggest upcycler in the world. But compared to other industries, that's small--and that means there's way more opportunity."
Forget recycling. Reusing materials discarded in the manufacturing process is a growing force behind a fresh new industry.
(...)
That scale that Looptworks' Hamlin is aiming for is already happening on the post-consumer end of the upcycling market. If Etsy is considered the epicenter of do-it-yourself upcycling, then New Jersey-based TerraCycle takes on that same function in mass upcycling. The company turns actual garbage into hundreds of products, like Oreo wrapper backpacks and bicycle chain picture frames. With a large-scale collection infrastructure developed over the past 10 years, TerraCycle nabs about 1 billion pieces of garbage every quarter that ultimately end up on the shelves of big-box retailers like Target and The Home Depot.
Tom Szaky, founder and CEO of TerraCycle, started the operation <http://www.entrepreneur.com/article/219310#> as a humble provider of worm poop while he was a Princeton University freshman. But over the years the company's increasing fortunes have mirrored the burgeoning opportunities in the green market. In 2009, sales revenue hit $7.5 million; in 2010, it jumped to $20 million. Since January, Szaky has added operations in nine more countries, bringing the total to 20.
There's also serious behind-the-scenes innovation happening. Terra-Cycle employs "polymer scientists" who are immersed in figuring out ways to manipulate paper, organics and plastics into materials like a new plastic lumber and textile made from Capri Sun drink pouches. Meanwhile, teams of designers are figuring out how to make jackets from Doritos bags and luggage from energy bar wrappers.
"The market is ripe for more innovation," Szaky says. "[Valued] at $12.5 million, TerraCycle is, without any debate, the biggest upcycler in the world. But compared to other industries, that's small--and that means there's way more opportunity."
IMC Licensing, the nation's leading full-service licensing agency specializing in consumer product brands, announced today that it has entered into a representation agreement with TerraCycle, one of the fastest growing green companies in the world.
TerraCycle provides free collection programs for non-recyclable and difficult-to-recycle materials and then turns the waste into affordable, eco-friendly products. By upcycling and recycling traditionally non-recyclable waste (drink pouches, chip bags, toothbrushes and much more) into various consumer products and materials, the company keeps waste out of landfills and contributes to a cleaner world. TerraCycle products are available at major retailers such as Wal-Mart and Target as well as online.
IMC Licensing, the nation's leading full-service licensing agency specializing in consumer product brands, announced today that it has entered into a representation agreement with TerraCycle, one of the fastest growing green companies in the world.
TerraCycle provides free collection programs for non-recyclable and difficult-to-recycle materials and then turns the waste into affordable, eco-friendly products. By upcycling and recycling traditionally non-recyclable waste (drink pouches, chip bags, toothbrushes and much more) into various consumer products and materials, the company keeps waste out of landfills and contributes to a cleaner world. TerraCycle products are available at major retailers such as Wal-Mart and Target as well as online.
IMC Licensing announced a representation agreement with TerraCycle, a green company that collects non-recyclable and difficult-to-recycle materials and then turns the waste into affordable, eco-friendly products.
Under the agreement, IMC Licensing will represent TerraCycle partners’ pre- and post-consumer packaging waste that the company "upcycles" into new products. TerraCycle's current partners include many global brands. As a result of the agreement with IMC Licensing, this packaging waste will be available to licensees to create new consumer products such as bags, gifts, toys and a variety of school, home, office, garden and pet supplies.
IMC Licensing, the nation's leading full-service licensing agency specializing in consumer product brands, announced today that it has entered into a representation agreement with TerraCycle, one of the fastest growing green companies in the world.
TerraCycle provides free collection programs for non-recyclable and difficult-to-recycle materials and then turns the waste into affordable, eco-friendly products. By upcycling and recycling traditionally non-recyclable waste (drink pouches, chip bags, toothbrushes and much more) into various consumer products and materials, the company keeps waste out of landfills and contributes to a cleaner world. TerraCycle products are available at major retailers such as Wal-Mart and Target as well as online.
