Other coffee companies are also wrestling with the waste issue. Businesses that use Flavia pods, which is made by Mars, are able to ship the used pods to the New Jersey company TerraCycle, which will compost the coffee or tea and reuse the plastic in products like pavers and fencing, a TerraCycle spokesman, Albe Zakes said. More than 2.5 million Flavia packs in the United States have been recycled in the last year. Mars sells a billion drinks a year in 35,000 workplaces worldwide.
In Britain, Mr. Zakes said, TerraCycle has processed more than 800,000 coffee discs from Kraft’s Tassimo single-serve system. The results are being evaluated for possible application in the United States, a Kraft spokeswoman, Bridget MacConnell, said. Kraft and Mars are paying for collecting the pods, including shipping costs to TerraCycle.
Terra Cycle, il social network della ‘spazzatura’ che permette agli utenti di spedire gratuitamente i propri rifiuti per convertirli in oggetti di consumo, è un’altro esempio di questa tendenza. nato in America, il servizio è in arrivo anche nel nostro paese; il fondamento di questa piattaforma sociale è semplice e brillante: gli appartenenti alla community si organizzano in brigate per raccogliere e differenziare la spazzatura, da spedire a carico del destinatario, perché possa vivere una ‘seconda vita’.
TerraCycle makes affordable, eco-friendly products from a range of different non-recyclble waste materials. TerraCycle is one of the fastest growing eco-friendly manufacturers in the world!
When I first started Terracycle, I spent a lot of my time explaining what upcycling was. It was this foreign concept whose name wasn't on a lot of people's radar. Now, a handful of years later, more than 10 million people are collecting the brand specific waste that we've used to make a range of products; it has become increasingly common and may some day be as conventional as recycling.
Currently, several startups are building their business around upcycled products and major corporations are including upcycling in their operations and products. Corona is even using it as both an environmental awareness bringer and marketing tool, building pop up hotels at famous beaches from the waste collected there!
As upcycling grows, so do the Terracycle collection Brigades. Our newest with Colgate, giving toothbrushes and and toothpaste tubes a life beyond the waste bin, is nearly full after two months of starting. 2000 spots used to take a year or more. Whether it's because people are anxious to do something different with their waste or because the incentive of easily raising funds for your children's school or favorite organization is appealing in these cash starved times, it's clear that upcycling has arrived.
We're testing out various reuses, but so far we've made toothbrush holders, shave kits and make up cases from Colgate products.
TerraCycle's mission is to take material that would otherwise go into landfills and create useful (and profitable) consumer products. Szaky often refers to trash as the things people will pay to get rid of. In his book, he compares graffiti to the raw materials in TerraCycle's products. Cities and individuals are willing to pay to get rid of graffiti. Beyond the urban art that decorates their facility, TerraCycle sells Urban Art Flower Pots <http://www.terracycle.net/products/5-Urban-Art-Flower-Pot> that are constructed from plastic waste and decorated by local graffiti artists.
Recycle and Earn
Did you know billions of drink pouches are thrown out each year? TerraCycle collects these discarded pouches and turns them into cool products. Sponsored by the drink pouch makers themselves (CapriSun and Kool-Aid) these groovy pencil case holders will be the talk at the lunch table. You can get your school involved too. Collect drink pouches, turn them in and collect cash for your school. Go to www.terracycle.net and find out more. Pencil cases starting at $2. (TerraCycle makes lunch boxes too. See page XXX)
Jodi says, "As a pay-it-forward(er) I try and buy items I know I can give back with. For example Box Top all you do is clip the top and turn it in. Your school gets $.10 back for each one. You can also turn in your Sunny Delight Labels to earn points towards free books. There is also a program called Terracycle that donates to your school. Capri sun is one of the products."
Other coffee companies are also wrestling with the waste issue. Businesses that use Flavia pods, which is made by Mars, are able to ship the used pods to the New Jersey company TerraCycle, which will compost the coffee or tea and reuse the plastic in products like pavers and fencing, a TerraCycle spokesman, Albe Zakes said. More than 2.5 million Flavia packs in the United States have been recycled in the last year. Mars sells a billion drinks a year in 35,000 workplaces worldwide.
In Britain, Mr. Zakes said, TerraCycle has processed more than 800,000 coffee discs from Kraft’s Tassimo single-serve system. The results are being evaluated for possible application in the United States, a Kraft spokeswoman, Bridget MacConnell, said. Kraft and Mars are paying for collecting the pods, including shipping costs to TerraCycle.
