Terracycle or How to Turn your Trash into Gold

The first thing that jumped at me when I arrived at Terracycle was the walls.  Terracycle walls  are covered with incredible murals and graffiti. Yes, why keep this typical post World War II set of warehouse buildings in West Trenton NJ  in its standard  industrial dread style?

Check out  pictures of some Terracycle’s murals right here…

I think that the daring beauty of the murals that transform Terracycle concrete walls into a kind of surrealist garden are a manifestation of the bubbling creativity and ingenuity that characterize Terracycle. Terracycle continuously finds new ways to repurpose and recycle materials that would otherwise be burnt or disposed off in garbage dumps.

Terracycle continuously finds new ways to repurpose and recycle materials that would otherwise be burnt or disposed off in garbage dumps. Because of Terracycle’s ability to create and execute new ways to re-purpose/re-direct recycled materials, Terracycle is becoming part the Supply Chain of a number of large corporations.

Companies are starting to understand that their job does not end when consumers buy their product.  Many companies turn to Terracycle to help them figure out ways to reuse, redirect unused and used packaging materials.

Here are examples of Terracycle’s creativity in finding new uses for recycled materials:

- The 100,000 old vinyl records that are turned into wall clocks and sold at Target stores at $13 apiece.

Here are the before and after pictures:

Terracycle is known for the schoolbags and pencil cases it makes out of reused juice pouch material:

The Target shopping bag made off recycled Target plastic bags (note that most durable shopping bags are not made of recycled materials at all, but out of virgin materials)

Every year, Terracycle receive dozens of shopping bag models made from recycled materials by amateur designers. Here are a few of those proposed bags:

Most bags Terracycle makes reuse virgin packaging material that, for one reason or another, is rejected by the packaging machines. Over time Terracycle has established relationships with large food products companies such as Kraft/General Foods and receives all their virgin packaging material that could not be used by the production equipment and that would otherwise be burned.  Terracycle receives dozens of rolls of printed Alumnium or Alumnium/Plastic composite from its suppliers similar to what you see on this picture –> 

This blue plastic plant pot is made from the molded frame of computer monitors is pretty much indestructible. In contrast to terracotta plant pots, moisture will not degrade this pot. You will find this type of plant pots at your favorite hardware store.

Cork boards made of unused corks.

This kyte made from Oreo cookies packaging material was designed and made for the “Garbage Moguls” TV series presented on the National Geographic Channel.

Christmas ornaments made from recycled wrapping material

Picture frames made from virgin defective printed circuit boards.

Terracycle is also exploring first shredding plastic packaging material and then melting the resulting confettis into shapes such as picture frames and mechanical component. Here are a few example of this approach:

And the list goes on and on… Terracyle was started by Tom Szaky and a classmate of his at Princeton University. Their idea won a business plan competition. Here is an interview of Tom Szaky that PhillyEcoCity published last year. Their original idea is what made Terracycle first succesful commercial product: producing worm poop juice from the large scale collection of food scraps. Today you will find Terracycle Classic Worm Poop Juice in most  Garden Centers. Imagine that 4 Billion earth worms, eating food compost material produce 4,000 pounds of worm poop per day.

Worm poop looks like this –>

Just add water, package in recycled soda bottles, add a bright printed jacket and sell it for Gold. Yes, we can give value to trash – that apparently has lost all its value - that is exactly what Terracycle is doing.