TerraCycle’s business model  follows the age-old refrain: one person’s trash is another’s treasure.  The company has collected millions of used bottles, cereal boxes and  packages, and has converted these materials into shopping bags,  backpacks, watches, and pencil pouches. In all, TerraCycle offers more  than 150 products to consumers via large retailers like Target,  Wal-Mart, OfficeMax, Whole Foods, and The Home Depot. In 2009, the  company reported $7.6 million in revenue and its projection for 2010 is  double that. Its number of employees also increased to 75 in 2009 from  50 in 2008.

Nomacorc has joined with TerraCycle to upcycle corks.

In his book: "Revolution in a Bottle," Tom Szaky shares how he took "unwanted molecules of industry and created a whole new venture." In simple terms, someone's trash became his treasure. In 2002 Szaky dropped out of Princeton to head up TerraCycle a company known for eco-friendly products made from various non-recyclable products from such major retailers as Walmart, Target, and The Home Depot."

From pencil pouches made of Capri Sun juice packets to candy wrapper tote bags, TerraCycle is putting the fun back in recycling and even rewarding people for their sustainable efforts.

I hadn’t heard ofTerracycle until it made news recently by making a deal with Wal Mart. Until April 29, the national chain will sell Terracycle’s upcycled backpacks, pencil cases and more, right next to the product the new merch was made from. Want a frito lay purse? Hit up the chip aisle. For a Capri Sun backpack, head down to the drink section.

A recent podcast by the Pat Kenny show on RTE outlined a number of recycling and upcycling ideas including flavour of the month, Terracycle. TerraCycle makes affordable, eco-friendly products from a wide range of different non-recyclable waste materials. With over 50 products available at major retailers like Walmart, Target, The Home Depot, and Whole Foods Market, TerraCycle is one of the fastest growing eco-friendly manufacturers in the world.

Egads, almost three years ago now, I wrote about a New Jersey company (woo-hoo, go Jersey!) called Terracycle that uses discarded stuff of all sorts — discarded technology accessories, empty juice packs and so on — to create stuff like flower pots and tote bags (like the ones pictured below).

Terracycle products are already sold in stores such as The Home Depot, Target, and even some Whole Foods, but this “trash-to-treasure” company has teamed up with Walmart to sell over 60 products in every Walmart store across the country for the month of April (from the 5th to the 29th). In order to boost consumers’ awareness of environmental issues, TerraCycle products are being sold right next to the items from which they were made. So that means tote bags made out of candy wrappers will be sold right next to the candy, and the backpack made out of drink pouches will be sold right next to the drinks themselves.

Next time you purchase a box of Capri Sun drinks, a tube of Colgate toothpaste, a Clif bar etc.. consider hanging on to your trash and sending it to Terracycle! TerraCycle takes a wide range of different non-recyclable waste materials and then makes affordable, eco-friendly products. Terracycle is hoping to eliminate the idea of waste by finding innovative, unique uses for materials others deem garbage. With over 50 products available at major retailers like Walmart, Target, The Home Depot, OfficeMax, Petco and Whole Foods Market, TerraCycle is one of the fastest growing eco-friendly manufacturers in the world. Consider what happens when your kids finish drinking a Capri Sun…they toss the empty juice box in the trash which eventually ends up in a dumpster or landfill. Instead of adding the drink pouch to a pile of other pouches at the landfill, TerraCycle converts the used drink pouches into unique fashion bags, tote bags, pencil cases, and other items for kids and adults (check out the adorable Skittles bag below made from recycled Skittles wrappers)!