A tour of TerraCycle's tastefully trash-strewn headquarters
TerraCycle
Elmer's
Mars
fertilizer
Frito-Lay (Pepsico)
Honest Kids (Coca-Cola)
Target
Solo
Include USA
Tom's of Maine
Carpi Sun (Kraft Foods)
Flip Flop Brigade (Old Navy)
Oral Care Brigade (Colgate)
Wine Pouch Brigade (CLIF Family Winery)
TerraCycle is a company renowned for turning trash into treasure. Here's an inside look at the graffiti-clad warehouse in Trenton, N.J. where much of the upcycling magic happens.Late last week, I had the pleasure of touring the Trenton, N.J. offices of TerraCycle, a “waste solution development” firm with the most admirable mission to "eliminate the idea of waste."
Unfamiliar with TerraCycle? Well, if you’ve ever seen or owned a tote bag made from Dorito wrappers, a coupon holder made from tortilla packaging, or a Christmas tree skirt made from Capri Sun pouches, chances are that it came from TerraCycle. And, of course, there’s the company’s signature product, launched in 2001 by vermicomposting Princeton student-turned-eco-entrepreneur Tom Szaky: liquefied worm poop plant fertilizer packaged in recycled plastic two-liter soda bottles.
In addition to liquefied worm poop and trashy handbags, TerraCycle offers dozens upon dozens of additional consumer products made from recycled and upcycled materials ranging from plastic lumber lawn furniture to M&M’s wrapper kites. (More provocative prototype designs such as wall clocks made from pregnancy tests and picture frames made from cigarette butts do exist, but don’t expect to find them on the shelves at your local Target ... at least, yet). Of the mostly pre-consumer waste collected by TerraCycle (more on that in a bit), 95 percent is recycled, 4 percent is upcycled, and 1 percent is reused. To date the company has collected over 2,432,696,434 units of waste.
So how does TerraCycle amass all the raw materials for their products? As mentioned, a majority is sent to TerraCycle as pre-consumer waste by various companies. The rest of it — the hard/impossible to recycle post-consumer waste that many folks end up tossing in the garbage — is largely collected through the company's popular Brigades program. Most, but not all, Bridgades have point-raising incentives and are often instituted as fundraising schemes at schools and nonprofit organizations. Alternately, the points earned through collecting waste and sending it to TerraCycle can also be used towards charitable contributions. TerraCycle Brigades span across a wide range of categories usually paired with a corporate sponsor: Fllip-flops, toothbrushes, chip bags, wine pouches, Solo cups, printer cartridges, energy bar wrappers, and the list goes on and on. Most recently, the company launched a Tom’s of Maine Natural Care Brigade, which also entails a sweepstakes.