Bag made out of recycled M&M's packages

TerraCycle is a private U.S. small business headquartered in Trenton, New Jersey, which specializes in making consumer products from pre- and post-consumer materials. This is often called upcycling, or reusing waste materials that are otherwise difficult to recycle.^[1]

Products [link]

TerraCycle began with the production of fertilizer made from worm waste products, and packaged in reused containers. Still produced today, the fertilizer is made by feeding organic waste to worms. The worms' excrement is liquefied and brewed into bottles, many of which are collected through "Bottle Brigade" fund raising programs at schools and charities around North America.^[2]

The company diversified its production into upcycling around 2007 and began producing pencil cases and backpacks made from Capri Sun and Honest Kids drink pouches. TerraCycle also repurposes pre- and post-consumer waste packaging from companies such as Mars Incorporated and Wrigley's into products such as messenger bags, binders, notebooks, and tote bags.

Packaging waste that can not be upcycled is recycled into plastic products including flower pots, plastic lumber, plastic pavers, bike racks, park benches, and garbage and recycling cans.

Company history [link]

TerraCycle was founded in the fall of 2001 by Tom Szaky, and Jon Beyer, two freshmen at Princeton University.^[3]

The initial idea came about as a submission to a business plan contest sponsored by the Princeton Entrepreneurship Club. The following summer, Szaky and Beyer made arrangements with Princeton Dining Services to take dining hall waste and process it in their prototype "Worm Gin". By the end of the summer, TerraCycle had found its first investor. The company shortly moved into their first office at 20 Nassau St, Unit 14, Princeton, New Jersey.

By 2002, the company had created a continuous flow process to take garbage and have it processed by worms into fertilizer.^[3]

Szaky took an extended leave of absence from Princeton in the spring of 2003. In May of that year he entered the Carrot Capital business plan contest, which offered $1 million in seed capital to the winning team. TerraCycle won the competition, but turned down the money because of the direction in which Carrot Capital wanted to take the company.^{[citation needed]}

Funded by prize money from various contests and angel investors, TerraCycle was able to persevere despite not accepting the million dollars. A major breakthrough came in May 2004, when Home Depot began offering TerraCycle Plant Food on their website. TerraCycle continued its growth in 2005 as Whole Foods Market, Home Depot Canada, Wal-Mart Canada, Wild Oats Markets and Do-It-Best began carrying TerraCycle products.

In 2007, TerraCycle began expanding on the idea of what could be done with waste, and looking to create other projects from garbage. After meeting with an investor, Tom and co-founder Robin Tator had the idea to make home composters and rain barrels. From there, the ideas continued to evolve and when Seth Goldman, CEO of Honest Tea, approached Tom about making something with Honest Kids drink pouches, TerraCycle found the pouches could be sewn together. Shortly after, TerraCycle began making their drink pouch pencil cases.

TerraCycle has since been named one of the 100 most innovative companies by Red Herring Magazine and has received the Environmental Stewardship Award from Home Depot Canada. In July 2006, Inc. magazine ran a cover story calling TerraCycle "The Coolest Little Start-up in America" and in the same year, NJ Biz named Tom Szaky, CEO, the #1 in 30 under 30. In 2008, TerraCycle was the first consumer company to earn the Zerofootprint Seal, and followed in 2009 by being named by Inc 500 as one of America's Fastest Growing Private Companies. TerraCycle has also earned various leadership, business, environmental and entrepreneurial awards.

The company has been featured on CBS, ABC, Fox News, NBC, CNBC, RobTV, CBC, and Citytv, and has also received coverage in TIME, Profit, Canadian Gardener, BusinessWeek, The New York Times, The Globe and Mail, Toronto Star, The Vancouver Sun, the Chicago Sun Times, National Post, and The Philadelphia Inquirer.

In 2009, a pilot of Garbage Moguls, a National Geographic reality show documenting TerraCycle and its work aired on the National Geographic channel. A season of Garbage Moguls aired in 2010.

As of Fall 2011, TerraCycle accepts materials in approximately 40 specialized categories (called "Brigades") from a large number of participating locations (all money is paid to schools and non-profits).[1] They pay $.02 each for most items, ranging up to $.25 for cellphones and inkjet cartridges.

Legal Issues [link]

Scotts Miracle-Gro Company sued TerraCycle in 2007 for copyright infringement and false advertising. Scotts claims that TerraCycle's packaging takes from designs and shapes from Scotts products.^[2] Scotts, in the 177-page lawsuit, also claims that TerraCycle falsely advertises the superiority of its products.

In response to the lawsuit, TerraCycle and affiliates launched an internet and media campaign to bring attention to the lawsuit. The central website, paints the lawsuit in David and Goliath terms, claiming that the lawsuit is simply the big company picking on the little guy.

The TerraCycle Building [link]

TerraCycle moved to its current offices in Trenton, New Jersey at the end of Summer 2004 from a basement in Princeton. The office is an old warehouse, and in the beginning, TerraCycle produced the worm poop fertilizer and other products at the offices in Trenton. Once production grew, the warehouse no longer had the space.

TerraCycle's offices are decorated with graffiti from local and national graffiti artists. The graffiti is redone every summer at TerraCycle's annual Graffiti Jam, a festival at which there is graffiti painting, musical entertainment, and booths with local products and organizations.

Around the world [link]

TerraCycle opened office in the UK, Mexico, Brasil and Canada in 2009, followed by France, Germany, Sweden and Argentina in 2010. As of Fall 2011, new programs have been launched in Holland, Luxembourg, Belgium, Denmark, Norway, Spain and Switzerland.

References [link]

Further reading [link]

• Szaky, Tom. (2009). Revolution in a Bottle: How TerraCycle is Redefining Green Business. Portfolio Penguin. ISBN 978-1-59184-250-7.

External links [link]

• TerraCycle website
• TerraCycle UK
• designverb summary