For det venture-finansierede TerraCycle er vækst vigtigere end profit, og virksomhedens forretningsområde er genanvendelse. Det startede i USA, men har nu bredt sig til 17 lande, senest Danmark. Et genbrugsprojekt, hvor tynd plast bliver til tasker, notesbøger eller noget helt tredje i stedet for at ende sine dage i forbrændingsovnen, er nu også kommet til Danmark, selv om det endnu er på et beskedent niveau. Indtil videre er Kraft Foods den eneste samarbejdspartner. Kristina Gamst fra TerraCycle Danmark er dog overbevist om, at det vil vokse sig større. Hun understreger dog, at TerraCycle aldrig vil gå ind og konkurrere med kommunale plastindsamlings-ordninger.

At a time when education funding is drying up, some schools are finding cash in their trash. For several years now, school districts around Michigan and around the nation have been turning their waste streams into a revenue stream through cooperative program with TerraCycle, a Trenton, N.J. firm that buys discarded juice pouches, potato chip bags, plastic cups and other typical lunchroom debris.

Schools generate plenty of waste that is thoughtlessly disposed of when it should be recycled. An extraordinary recycling program called TerraCycle has brought about a huge change in the recycling behavior of schools in the country. This program takes the initiative to recover food packaging items that take time and effort to recycle and as well pays schools for their work. As per a MichigansThumb.com report, this program awards points to schools in accordance with the amount of recyclable products transported to TerraCycle. The creation of single-serve foodstuffs has heightened the quantity of disposable waste and led to a rising pile of detrimental waste materials in landfills.

Frito-Lay is constantly looking at ways to improve our environment and has recently partnered with TerraCycle to turn waste into new products. Your used packaging will be given a second lifecycle as an everyday product, like a clipboard, tote bag, or trash can. All you have to do is collect used Frito-Lay chip bags and send them to TerraCycle. They even pay the postage! For your help in advancing the "zero-landfill" initiative, for each bag you send in, $0.02 will be donated to the school or non-profit organization of your choice. Small steps can make a big difference if everyone helps out! Find out how to participate.

As part of its sustainability efforts, Spud also collects and reuses difficult-to-recycle items through TerraCycle's Brigades collection programs. Items are recovered and upcycled into consumer products like toys and office supplies.

A company by the name of TerraCycle believes this as well and has proven it takes changes in recycling policies in order to have a positive outcome on reducing waste, not vice versa. TerraCycle is also working to prove that 100 percent of what we use every day is recyclable and is showing great progress in making that more and more of a reality in communities around the world. I invite everyone to join their cause and to see just what it is they are doing and what you can do to help — plus it is free and the benefits are great!

Cuando alguien convierte un CD en un posavasos o una lata de conservas vacía en un lapicero está haciendo upcycling, o supra-reciclaje, que es el proceso de transformar un residuo, desfasado, inservible, en un objeto útil, de igual o mayor valor que el original. Éste es el concepto en el que se basa el modelo de negocio de TerraCycle, una compañía que lleva por lema "Aprovecha la basura" y se dedica a recolectar y reciclar desechos (lo que la mayoría seguimos llamando desechos) y convertirlos en nuevos (y muchas veces originales) productos, que a continuación vende. Actualmente está presente en 15 países. La fundó, en 2001, Tom Szaky, un universitario de Princeton (Estados Unidos) que primero había probado con fertilizantes orgánicos hechos a base de excrementos de gusanos, y al que hoy, a sus 29 años, hay quien compara con Mark Zuckerberg, el creador de Facebook.