Monday, September 27, 2004
ULTIMATE RECYCLING PROJECT: Worm poop turns profit for students
Entrepreneurs process waste into plant food, which they expect to sell to retail chains
KEN TARBOUS
(East Brunswick, N.J.) Home News Tribune
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Some Princeton University students have come up with the ultimate recycling project: they're turning worm excrement into cash.
The student entrepreneurs behind TerraCycle International Inc. take
organic garbage, feed it to worms and process the end result into
organic fertilizer suitable for use on flowers, house plants and
vegetables.
"The product itself is ... the first mass-produced product to be made
completely from waste," said Tom Szaky, 22, Princeton, N.J.-based
TerraCycle's CEO. "Every aspect of the product is some form of garbage."
Szaky and fellow Princeton student Jon Beyer took their 2001 "Worm
Project," one of four finalists in the university's Business Plan
Contest, and refined the manufacturing process for large-scale
commercial application.
It takes three months from receiving the waste - paper sludge, coffee
grounds, beer hops and other select raw organic material otherwise
destined for landfills - to packaging the product using end-run
sprayers, misprint boxes and old soda bottles.
The waste is mixed using special formulas, put through a computerized
hypothermal composting process for four days, during which it heats up
to 150 degrees, and then is fed to millions of red worms.
"The worms take about three weeks or so, and then what they poop out
... it's pretty much like solid worm poop ... we take that and separate
it out," Szaky said. "Over an eight-day process we liquefy it and
that's what ends up in the bottle."
A 20-ounce bottle of TerraCycle's Indoor Plant Food sells for $6.95, or
a three pack for $13.90, through a link on the company's Web site, www.terracycle.net.
TerraCycle's plant food has been listed by the Organic Materials Review
Institute, a nonprofit organization that reviews substances for use in
organic production, processing and handling according to the standards
established under the U.S. Department of Agriculture's National Organic
Program.
Since the product began appearing in stores in May, about 15,000 units
have been sold. And the company expects revenues to reach $1 million in
its 2004-05 fiscal year, said Robin Tator, vice president of sales and
marketing
According to Szaky, the privately held firm anticipates turning a
profit by spring. "We're really hoping some big stores catch on to the
product for their '05 buying season."
Tator said Wal-Mart and Lowe's are among the top retail chains he and the other TerraCycle executives have in their sights.
"We are definitely going to make the cut in a few of (the larger retailers)," Tator said.
TerraCycle also works to raise consumer awareness about recycling and
the environment through school programs. Schools get help starting
their own recycling programs, and they can sell TerraCycle plant food
to raise money for school activities.
Students also are invited to join the TerraCycle production process by
collecting used soda bottles and in return they receive stickers,
T-shirts and other prizes in addition to seeing recycling in action.
"The kids get really excited by the fact that the bottles are actually
being reused and are going to sit in their local garden store or one of
the major retailers. They think that's really cool," Tator said. "In
their minds they know it isn't their bottle, but if they go and visit
the retailer they see it and say "Hey, Mom, that could be my bottle.'"
