The recycling company behind the initiative, TerraCycle UK, will process and sort the inhalers into material type, with the recycled components sold on for use in new products. The recovered aerosol will be sent to a specialist company who will recycle the metal components and collect any remaining liquid or propellant gas. The gas is then used as a replacement fuel in high temperature incinerators and cement kilns. No part of the aerosol container goes to landfill.

“They panic if a milk carton lands in the garbage,” she says, noting that she watches as her kids regularly fish Capri Sun pouches, Lay’s potato chip bags and Nabisco cookie wrappers out of the trash to save and send to TerraCycle, a company that converts trash into bags, kites and other products.

• Terracycle.net: Get paid for your trash—TerraCycle pays for everything from Capri Sun drink pouches to Lay’s potato chip bags and Elmer’s Glue bottles, which it turns into other products.

Maxwell Elementary School pupils are saving the world. And they recently received an award for their efforts. Lynn Davidson/McDuffie Mirror TerraCycle Inc. named the school among the Top 100 in the nation for recycling drink pouches. Lauren Taylor, of TerraCycle, said Maxwell Elementary was ranked because it had collected 44,517 drink pouches by October. "Obviously, the children there are passionate about recycling and aware of what steps they can take to protect the environment," Ms. Taylor said. "It's great to see them taking part in such a large-scale project." A certificate in a frame made from shredded drink pouches was sent to the school and presented during a faculty meeting on Wednesday, Jan. 19. Maxwell Elementary was one of only four elementary schools in Georgia to receive the recognition, according to Ms. Taylor. TerraCycle provides free waste-collection programs for hard-to-recycle materials. The company transforms the waste into affordable green products, according to its Web site. The company recently reached a milestone. It has collected 50 million drink pouches -- the equivalent to 20 school buses in weight, 480 football fields in length, enough to stretch across the Grand Canyon nine times if laid side-by-side. "So, the children at Maxwell Elementary helped because the 44,000 they collected contributed to that," Ms. Taylor said. TerraCycle collects drink pouches, soda bottles, chip bags, candy and gum wrappers, zip-close bags, cheese wrappers, coffee containers and Lunchable containers and turns them into tote bags, lunch bags, book bags, coolers, clipboards, picture frames, bottles, fences and other items, which are sold at Target, Kmart, Walmart, The Home Depot and via its Web site, www.terracycleshop.com.

Many people have a very clear idea of what "recyclable" looks like, and many products are helpfully marked with the symbol of three arrows in perpetual triangular circulation. The meaning is clear — once used, recyclable products can be reused almost infinitely. But what of the non-recyclables? Do they, too, have purpose, or are they fated for the landfill, never to be used again? That's where TerraCycle comes in. On the Mary Baldwin campus, it is proving to be a force to be reckoned with. A small, up-and-coming company founded in 2001, TerraCycle makes use of products that are often challenging to recycle. From ink cartridges to digital cameras, Scotch Tape to candy wrappers, TerraCycle's eco-friendly approach takes several of these products to create items like all-purpose cleaners (made from soda bottles), bike pouches (made from energy bar wrappers), and backpacks (made from cookie wrappers). It is a creative approach that is environmentally friendly, efficient, and economical, shrinking the amount of trash sent into landfills in a way that has people paying attention.

Another plus point is that Ella's Kitchen have a partnership with Terracycle to encourage mums and dads to 'upcycle' their used baby food pouches (the recent trend for which does my head in when I have my green hat on). You can read more on their website.

UPcycle It! 13 Have wrappers and other items that you can't recycle? Check out Terra Cycle. They have collected over 1 billion units of waste and turned it into 29 different products!

TerraCycle This innovative company creates bags, bows, flower pots and even kites from, well, trash. TerraCycle will pay you to mail in empty drink pouches, potato chip bags, energy bar wrappers and other packaging waste for them to upcycle into brightly colored products that definitely won’t end up in a landfill anytime soon.

During the past two months, several Floral Street School students with the help of the eco-friendly organization the Dumpster Divers, collected over 2,000 empty juice box pouches and snack bags, which will be sent to the eco-friendly company Terracycle.  Terracycle collects various types of trash and creates new products, such as coolers and backpacks, to be sold in major stores across the country, such as Walmart, Target and Home Depot.

Students at Alain L. Locke Elementary have been collecting items to recycle through TerraCycle’s campaign to “outsmart waste.”  Ms. Adebiyi’s class won the most recent competition by bringing in over 2,000 items!  Her class celebrated by having a day without school uniforms.

As of July 2010, Brigade participants can earn a 5x donation credit on their first shipment. That means the first 25 pieces in a large shipment you send in will be credited at $0.10 each. The rest will be credited at the standard rate.  Visit TerraCycle’s website to learn more or to sign up for a Brigade.