TerraCycle™ Inc. - Raising the Bar for Eco-friendly Businesses

TerraCycle™ Inc. is the world's first company to mass produce a product that has a negative ecological footprint.

In 2006 Americans generated 251 million tons of waste and recycled only 35.2% of those materials (82 million tons), according to the EPA. As landfills fill up and become scarce, efforts to implement effective recycling programs have intensified. TerraCycle™ Inc. has responded to this calling and has become the world's first company to mass produce a product that has a negative ecological footprint.


TerraCycle's Plant Food.

How is this possible? While most companies are in the business of producing waste, Terracyle uses materials from the waste stream -- an abundant resource-- to manufacture a multitude of products, diverting materials from landfills back to shelves in WalMart, Home Depot, and Whole Foods, just to name a few.

TerraCycle™ Inc. began in 2001 as a composting company which collected waste from dining halls, and then from restaurants, supermarkets, and landscapers. The idea came from two Princeton University sophomores, Tom Szaky and Jon Beyer, who took a stab at waste management and ended up redefining the concept of what an environmentally sustainable and socially responsible business is. Terracyle uses a method of composting called vermicomposting which employs little red worms (Eisenia Foetida) to recycle tons of organic waste including food waste, grass, paper waste and woodchips. The worms' excretions (castings) are then used as organic fertilizer for plants, and topsoil for gardens and landscapers.

In just a few short years, Terracycle has evolved from a small composting company to an eco-friendly business manufacturing consumer goods such as TerraCycle Plant Food, affectionately known as "Worm Poop." Terracyle's flagship product is composed of liquefied worm castings and is even packaged in waste, specifically used soda bottles and excess spray tops collected from other companies. TerraCycle partners with recycling centers and elementary schools to collect the used soda bottles. Terracyle pays schools $0.06 for every soda bottle brought in. So far participating schools have received $75,000 as part of this fundraising endeavor.

The company has now expanded its waste product base, creating urban art pots from 100% electronic waste (crushed computers and fax machines.) TerraCycle also collects CapriSun and Honest Tea drink pouches which will soon be turned into bags, and cookie wrappers which may be used for anything from curtain showers to umbrellas.

"One year ago we were company that was just making worm poop. It is truly exciting for us to be making affordable eco-friendly products from garbage. From the bags that we make from used drink pouches that are sold in Target to our newest line of All Natural Cleaners in reused soda bottles that are now be carried by Office Max; we are taking green mainstream with products that everyone can afford. We are proving that you don't have to sacrifice the environment for a profit," says James Artis, the companyís Director of the Wrapper Brigade.

TerraCycle's respect for environmental responsibility is inspirational and its innovation and creativity open a new window for a sustainable future. INFORM's Green Auction will soon be featuring TerraCycle's wine barrel composter. A perfect tool for gardners, this composter speeds up the composting process and is made from 100% African Oak wine barrel used to make red wine in California vineyards. Visit www.informinc.org for more information.