Innovation

TerraCycle’s Brigade programs represent an innovative way to encourage recycling: the company partners with conscientious brands and manufacturers to offer free, often incentivized recycling programs for consumers. Sponsoring organizations pay TerraCycle to provide recycling solutions for their products and packaging. Examples include working with Yankee Candle® to offer recycling for glass candle holders, Colgate® to recycle oral care packaging (toothpaste tubes, toothbrushes, etc.), and Clif Bar® to recycle energy bar wrappers. Individuals, families, schools, or offices can sign up online to participate in a specific Brigade. Once they have collected waste, they simply print out a free shipping label and send it to TerraCycle, which sorts the materials and sends them on for processing.

TerraCycle uses only circular methods — reuse, upcycling, or recycling — for the collected waste. Creative upcycling solutions include constructing lunch boxes out of Capri Sun® drink pouches, messenger bags out of Clif Bar® wrappers, and even portable speakers out of Cheetos® chip bags. Upcycled products are sold through online retailers such as DwellSmart and UncommonGoods. However, upcycling accounts for a relatively small proportion of the waste; nearly 98% of materials are recycled. Specific recycling steps depend on the waste stream involved, but could involve separating the waste into its different components and then melting metals into new alloys or plastics into pellets that can be reused in other applications. TerraCycle sells these materials directly to manufacturers as a sustainable alternative to virgin materials.

Participants in most Brigade programs earn points per unit of waste recycled. These points can be redeemed for charitable gifts or cash donations to any nonprofit, school, or charitable organization. Sponsoring organizations fund these incentive payments as part of their overall contract with TerraCycle. The company also offers various contests and promotions to encourage participation. Lauren Taylor, Global Director of Public Relations, noted that beyond reducing the environmental impact of the waste itself, the goal is to get consumers “to focus on what really needs to be thrown away."

Inspiration

TerraCycle began as a company that focused on organic fertilizer. CEO Tom Szaky started the company while a student at Princeton, selling “worm poop” fertilizer in used soda bottles. TerraCycle launched a Bottle Brigade to collect the packaging materials, providing an incentive payment of 2 cents per bottle. This model later grew into the incentive system used in the current Brigade programs.

In conversations with CEOs, Mr. Szaky realized that the proliferation of individually packaged food (such as baby food pouches and kid’s drinks) brought a need for new recycling solutions. Without a viable alternative, many common packaging materials were simply tossed in the trash. Fortunately, as Ms. Taylor noted, “Our CEO is not afraid to take risks, go with the flow, and try new opportunities.” Confronting this new challenge head-on, TerraCycle shifted to concentrate on developing zero-waste solutions for common materials that could not be recycled through traditional methods.

Overall impact

TerraCycle’s Brigade programs have had a substantial positive impact. These programs engage manufacturers and consumers in working together to reduce the environmental impact of common purchases. So far, TerraCycle has involved more than 60 million people in collecting waste. The company has expanded its free recycling programs to more than 20 countries and has donated over $15 million to charity through Brigade incentives.

Beyond their obvious benefits, these programs also remind consumers to consider the environmental impacts of their purchasing decisions. Ms. Taylor described how TerraCycle has helped to raise awareness about recycling in schools. “Parents have said, ‘My child was part of a school program, and they’ve turned the house into a recycling center.’ Kids are thinking about what is recyclable and what is not.” While TerraCycle provides ingenious recycling solutions, the company recognizes that recycling can only mitigate, not fully resolve, the problem of waste. The company also works to educate consumers to avoid waste in the first place by buying conscientiously, buying more durable or used products, or simply buying less.

The Brigade programs provide a clear example of full-spectrum flourishing: the company, consumers, sponsors, and ultimately the environment all benefit from this collaboration to reduce waste.

Business benefit

The Brigade programs generate revenue for TerraCycle as part of its normal business operations. Sponsors pay TerraCycle to offer recycling solutions for their products and packaging, and the company sells the resulting materials (such as plastic pellets) for reuse. Sponsorship also benefits the brands or companies themselves; in addition to solidifying their reputations as eco-conscious organizations, they receive positive publicity as schools, offices, and individuals participate in the branded programs.

TerraCycle has been highly successful. Revenues grew to $18.8 million in 2015, and the company recently sold 30% of its European operations to SUEZ, a major waste management firm. This partnership will allow the organizations to work together to provide new and expanded recycling solutions.

Social and environmental benefit

TerraCycle emphasizes its triple-bottom-line focus. “TerraCycle puts people and planet before profits. While we are a for-profit company, we keep the profits modest — just enough to grow the company,” said Ms. Taylor. The Brigade programs tie directly to UN Sustainable Development Goal #12, Responsible Consumption and Production. TerraCycle’s work supports efforts to substantially reduce waste generation by 2030 and to encourage companies to adopt sustainable practices.

In the societal arena, TerraCycle’s Brigade programs have succeeded in raising awareness among individuals, encouraging more conscientious consumerism. People are starting to reflect on packaging and waste before making a purchase. "How did it get to that point? What are the options for disposal? These programs as a whole get people to think,” Ms. Taylor noted. In addition, the incentives have both helped to reinforce the idea that recycling is a good choice (especially for children) and resulted in substantial donations to charitable organizations.

The company's environmental impact is unquestionable. Overall, TerraCycle has recycled more than 3.5 billion units of waste, keeping these materials out of landfills and incinerators. Its tailored solutions allow the company to recycle more than 97% of the total waste it collects, by volume. The Brigade programs have been highly successful in collecting specific waste streams. For example, TerraCycle was the first company to collect and recycle cigarette waste on a wide scale, and has recycled more than 66 million cigarette butts. In processing, the waste is separated into its component parts: the ash and tobacco are specially composted, and the plastics melted together and used in industrial products such as plastic pallets. TerraCycle’s positive environmental impact will only increase as the company continues to expand its operations and program offerings.

Interview

Lauren Taylor, Global Director, Public Relations and Content