TerraCycle is a global recycling and sustainability company that focuses on recycling uncommon products and giving them a new life. It was started in 2001 and is based in Trenton, New Jersey, USA. It deals with hard-to-dispose waste, which is usually not processed by municipalities.
The key initiative by TerraCycle is the Zero Waste Box, which offers people and institutions the opportunity to buy category-based collection boxes. The categories may include waste like snack wrappers, flexible plastics, coffee capsules, beauty products, contact lenses, pens, dental care products, and e-waste. They can fill them with acceptable waste and hand them in to be recycled in a specific manner designed for those products. Each box includes the cost of collection, logistics, and processing. TerraCycle separates, cleans, and recycles the materials received into secondary raw materials like plastic lumber, tiles, floor coverings, composites, and industrial products.
The company has operations in many countries across the world and collaborates with consumer brands, retailers, schools, offices, salons, and municipalities on landfill diversion. Along with this, TerraCycle operates brand-sponsored national recycling initiatives that help consumers to drop certain waste items within designated areas free of cost. These programs are the ones that corporate partners finance as a part of sustainability and extended producer responsibility. The company also engages in upcycling projects where reclaimed waste is converted into finished consumer and commercial products.
TerraCycle is a venture that exists on the border of waste management and corporate sustainability. Its business model transforms waste that cannot be recycled into useful materials through organized collection and processing systems. The income is obtained through the sale of Zero Waste Boxes, corporate program fees, consulting and licensing services, and recycled material feedstock sales.