Finally, 2015 nominee Tom Szaky (bottom right), CEO of TerraCycle, has partnered with Procter & Gamble to produce the world’s first recyclable shampoo bottle, made from 25% beach plastic.

Tom Szaky, Founder and CEO of TerraCycle-- I am inundated with emails. I get hundreds a day, and make sure there's resolution to each and every one. With the influx of messages, I could easily spend the near-entirety of every day replying, in conversation, typing. However, I have a business to run, and being in the business of eliminating the idea of waste, I need every ounce of the time and energy I have.

Tom Szaky, Chief Executive Officer @ TerraCycle, Canada--His company is the global leader in the collection and recycling of post-consumer waste that typically ends up in a landfill. He has developed a unique business model that offers free recycling programs funded by brands, manufacturers, and retailers around the world.

Guest Writer: Tom Szaky, Founder and CEO of TerraCycle- I am inundated with emails. I get hundreds a day, and make sure there's resolution to each and every one. With the influx of messages, I could easily spend the near-entirety of every day replying, in conversation, typing. However, I have a business to run, and being in the business of eliminating the idea of waste, I need every ounce of the time and energy I have.

Cigarette butts are the most littered item in the world. A common sight on sidewalks, roadways and beaches, approximately 4.5 trillion cigarette butts are improperly disposed of, tossed out windows, snuffed out on the ground or dropped into gutters each year... Through the free Cigarette Waste Recycling Program, cigarette butts can be safely disposed of, and fully recycled to a second life. Managed by international recycling company TerraCycle, the program is completely free to participate in and is available to any individual, organization, business or city within Canada – over the legal smoking age of 19, of course.

Tom Szaky Founder and CEO, TerraCycle “I got some great advice from one of the people who helped get TerraCycle off the ground. He said, ‘Make a friend, make a sale.’ People want to work with people they like. You can do presentations and talk until you lose your voice, but if people don’t feel a connection with you and they don’t trust you, they won’t buy from you and they won’t stay with you. This advice (and persistence) helped me land our first sales and has stayed with me to this day.”

What is required to get a sustainable business model in the circular economy started? While there is now widespread support for ideas related to the circular economy, business experience in the trenches quickly makes clear how difficult it is to kick-start the much vaunted potential multi-trillion-dollar industry. More often than not, entrepreneurs learn the hard way that stakeholders - especially consumers - are just paying lip-service to the narrative of the circular economy.