Inside TerraCycle

 

Our History

TerraCycle Now

2008:

The idea behind Sponsored Waste is simple. TerraCycle partners with Consumer Packaged Goods (CPG) manufacturers to administer free programs which pay consumers to help collect non-recyclable packaging, which is then upcycled into eco-friendly products. In January of 2008, we met with Kraft Foods, North America’s #1 food and beverage manufacturer. By February, Capri Sun signed on as the leading sponsor in the Drink Pouch Brigade. The program was opened up to thousands more participants. Once things started to get rolling, TerraCycle signed a deal with OfficeMax, which made TerraCycle one of the biggest suppliers of eco-friendly products to the leading office product retailer. With our media exposure off the charts, we teamed up with Target to run an innovative ad campaign on the cover of the Newsweek’s green issue. The ad provided instructions on how to reuse the magazine cover into a returnable envelope with prepaid postage printed on the inside cover. Newsweek readers were asked to remove the cover and fill with used Target plastic bags, and over 47,000 people returned their waste bags back to TerraCycle!

History_011 History_045 Retote
The collected bags are upcycled to make the Retote: the world’s first reusable tote bag made from used plastic bags. The tote is sold exclusively at Target stores nationwide. Meanwhile, Tom again made the cover of another major magazine: Brand Packaging named Tom the 2008 Brand Innovator of the Year and featured him on their cover!

Brandpackaging History_017 Bb_bag
As TerraCycle continued to blossom, our partnership with Kraft Foods grew by adding other brands into the fold. The next sponsor to sign on was Nabisco. The opportunity to collaborate with Nabisco and Capri Sun, two iconic, multibillion-dollar brands, helped to solidify TerraCycle’s status as a major player in the field of green business. TerraCycle publicized the deal with Kraft Foods, and launched the partnership with a full-page article in the Wall Street Journal. TerraCycle Founder and CEO Tom Szaky signed a book deal with Penguin Books, which published Tom’s first book: Revolution in a Bottle: How TerraCycle is Redefining Green Business. The book landed on shelves for Earth Day 2009.

History_012 Garbage_moguls
After many years of pitching, TerraCycle finally sold the pilot of its TV show, Garbage Moguls. The documentary follows TerraCycle products from the idea board to the store shelf. The National Geographic Channel loved the concept and chose Kites made from Cookie Wrappers and Messenger Bags made from billboard vinyl as the focus for the first episode. Meanwhile, TerraCycle and its partners recruited over 10,000 participating locations into its new Brigade programs. In addition, we added three new materials to the list of waste streams people can send in to be repurposed: wine corks, granola bags, and Toasted Chips bags. Everything was really starting to get going!