Founded in 2001, TerraCycle takes someone’s trash and turns it into someone else’s treasure. The company collects non-recyclable, post-consumer materials and remakes them into other consumer products, including backpacks and flower pots. Fast forward to 2014, when the company’s revenues hit about $19 million. Clearly, there’s money to be made in garbage.

Another important step was finding a company, Terracycle, that will recycle items not normally accepted by recycling companies: “markers, pens, old binders, earplugs, gloves you would wear to change a diaper,” said Kristof. “Through Terracycle you can even get money for your school.” Terracycle works with schools, often larger schools - Dryden school district has a recycling partnership with the company- where they organize “brigades” of students sorting recyclables into separate categories.

Thanks to a Hilton Travel with a Purpose grant, Keep Golden Isles Beautiful now can store and ship designated non-traditional recyclables to TerraCycle for recycling. Items now accepted by appointment at the Keep Golden Isles Beautiful offices include, oral care products, beauty/personal care products, chip/snack bags, tape dispensers, cereal bags, solo cups, pens/markers/highlighters, drink pouches, Brita/PUR products and cigarettes.

The TerraCycle campaign took back from the landfills more than 220,000 waste units that were re-purposed by TerraCycle for a rebate value of $2,218.60. In addition, TerraCycle accepted 102,990 units of cigarette waste for upcycling. While there is no cash value for that portion of the donations, the rewards to the earth are priceless.

As Albe Zakes — the VP of TerraCycle, a global recycling network — led me through the company's headquarters, he stopped in his tracks once we reached a piece of scrap metal inscribed with the company's logo. "Oh, that must be new. Definitely wasn't here yesterday," he said, and we continued our tour. That brief moment perfectly exemplified the innovative, ever-changing company. The brainchild of environmentally minded entrepreneur Tom Szaky, TerraCycle has a mission almost as creative as its office space — a New Jersey warehouse entirely furnished with material that's been reused and recycled.

Cascade Ridge Elementary School students have kept thousands of apple sauce and drink pouches out of the landfill since the school joined TerraCycle’s national recycling program. Founded in 2001, TerraCycle is an international company that collects difficult-to-recycle packaging and products to repurpose the material into affordable products. Cascade Ridge participates in two of 30 programs TerraCycle offers, according to the elementary school’s Dean of Students Jennifer Sehlin.

Sinds enkele maanden is Hoorn een Fruittella-snoepverpakking recyclingpunt rijker. Initiatiefneemster van dit recyclingpunt is Afra Geurs. Zij zamelt met de lege snoepverpakkingen geld in voor de Cat Shelter in Limburg. De Snoep Brigade is een gezamenlijk initiatief van Fruittella en TerraCycle. Consumenten kunnen met dit programma hun lege snoepverpakkingen gratis recyclen, als beloning hiervoor krijgen ze een financiële bijdrage waarmee een goed doel naar eigen keuze kan worden gesteund. Zo zamelt de familie Geurs dus in voor de Cat Shelter in Limburg. De Cat Shelter is een organisatie die als doel heeft om hulpbehoevende katjes op te vangen en die extra verzorging te bieden. Als lid van de Snoep Brigade wil de familie Geurs de Cat Shelter ondersteunen “Op dit moment zamelen we alleen met ons gezin in, maar we doen het wel met hart en ziel.” De snoepverpakkingen worden op dit moment bij de familie thuis ingezameld. De Cat Shelter is geen gewoon asiel. De katjes worden allemaal ondergebracht bij pleeggezinnen. Vanuit de pleeggezinnen worden de kittens uiteindelijk geadopteerd. Voor een goede verzorging van de kittens kan de Cat Shelter giften goed gebruiken. Daar doet Afra Geurs dan ook graag aan mee: “Het is misschien niet altijd veel wat we naar TerraCycle opsturen, maar die ene euro die we aan de Cat Shelter kunnen geven is het waard.” Inmiddels zijn er verspreid over heel Nederland teams actief die op deze manier een concrete bijdrage leveren aan het milieu en de maatschappij. Alle ingezamelde snoepverpakkingen worden weer verwerkt tot nieuwe duurzame grondstoffen en producten.

Through a partnership with the upcycle and recycle company TerraCycle, the Superior company has provided 50 meals to people in need, made a donation to support Sandy Hook Elementary following the 2012 shootings there, and brought clean water to 11 adults in Third World countries for a year. Employees have also donated more than 700 eggs cartons since 2013 to a local farmer and about 50 used cell phones to the Red Cross.