. terracycle terracycle s logo type privately held company industry waste management founded september 2001 ; 15 years ago 2001 09 1 founder tom szaky jon beyer headquarters 121 new york avenue trenton new jersey u.s. number of locations 26 countries key people tom szaky ceo 1 robin tator president of terracycle canada 1 products goods made from recycled products services recycling website terracycle.com terracycle is a private u.s. small business headquartered in trenton new jersey . it makes consumer products from pre consumer and post consumer waste upcycling and by reusing other waste materials . the company is known for its environmentally friendly aspects . contents 1 history 1.1 2001 03 founding and investments 1.2 2004 06 vermicompost 1.3 2007 scotts miracle gro lawsuit 1.4 2007 present sponsored waste 2 products and services 2.1 plant food 2.2 upcycled products 2.3 recycled products 2.4 brigade programs 3 corporate identity 3.1 logo 3.2 television show 3.3 web game 4 corporate affairs 4.1 headquarters 4.2 corporate culture 4.3 finance 5 see also 6 references 7 external links history edit 2001 03 founding and investments edit terracycle was founded by tom szaky and jon beyer in the fall of 2001 . 2 3 in 2002 the company bought a 20 000 continuous flow composting system invented by harry windle of gainesville florida to take organic waste and have it processed by worms into fertilizer . 3 4 5 the first waste used came from the dining halls of princeton university . 3 6 initial funding came from family and friends of tom szaky and jon beyer as well as awards from business plan contests . 3 7 terracycle received media attention when it turned down a one million dollar venture investment opportunity awarded through the carrot capital business plan because the investors planned to change terracycle s business model . 3 7 further funding came from private investors . 3 7 the first investor was suman sinha who gave 2 000 in exchange for 1 % of the company stock . 3 8 2004 06 vermicompost edit terracycle plant food . instead of pure fertilizer terracycle sold its products in liquid form . 6 the company made this decision upon concluding that liquid fertilizer could have better consumer reception as well as production advantages . 9 the original purpose for packing its liquid fertilizer in used plastic bottles was because the company could not afford new ones . 10 11 later the company continued this process and marketed their gardening products as waste in waste . 10 12 schools and local organizations collected bottles for terracycle in exchange for proceeds in what became known as the bottle brigade . 3 13 maintaining intellectual property rights the coca cola company gave terracycle a license to use its bottles in terracycle products . 14 15 pepsico also gave terracycle a license to use its distinctively shaped bottles . 16 in 2004 5 home depot canada and wal mart canada began carrying terracycle products . 3 17 other companies followed . during its growth the company bought an abandoned mansion to house its interns and a warehouse for its fertilizer production and offices . 6 2007 scotts miracle gro lawsuit edit the scotts miracle gro company sued terracycle in 2007 claiming false advertising and trade dress violations . 13 18 in response terracycle started a media campaign known as suedbyscotts.com . 19 20 scotts claimed that terracycle s choice of colors was too similar to its own products . 21 scotts eventually dropped the case upon an agreement with terracycle to alter terracycle s product packaging . 19 terracycle agreed to recolor its packaging to orange and green as well as remove pictures of fruits and vegetables on its labels . 22 issues over product comparison claims on terracycle s packaging were also resolved . 22 in the settlement scotts required terracycle to host a copy of the agreement on suedbyscotts.com . 22 2007 present sponsored waste edit in 2007 terracycle developed waste solutions and brigade collection programs for honest tea stonyfield farm and kraft foods . 2 seth goldman founder and ceo of honest tea asked szaky for a waste solution to its honest kids brand . 10 23 as tom szaky himself designed sample products for the aluminum plastic pouches including pencil pouches and tote bags goldman agreed to sponsor the drink pouch brigade . 10 23 upon deals with safeway target and walgreens to buy the products terracycle acquired approximately 20 million baled juice pouches stored by encorp in british columbia canada which contained many capri sun pouches . 10 17 24 because of intellectual property and trademark rights terracycle sought out permission from kraft to use capri sun brand pouches in its products . 10 25 they obtained additional sponsorship for the drink pouch brigade as well . 10 25 programs for other kraft brands such as oreo and chips ahoy soon followed . 10 25 the same year co founder jon beyer left terracycle to work at another company . 26 in 2008 terracycle partnered with target to sell recycled target plastic shopping bags fused together as reusable bags named retotes . 10 at the end of the year terracycle lost 4.5 million . 23 as a result the company changed it manufacturing processes to use pre consumer extra and misprinted packaging labels from other companies in its upcycled products . 23 27 terracycle changed to use the majority of its collected post consumer waste for recycling into plastic molding pellets . 23 around 2008 it ended its bottle brigade program . 28 as the brigades grew other companies partnered with terracycle to create similar waste collection models . for example wine companies supported the collection of old wine corks and wine barrels . 29 by 2009 terracycle moved away from manufacturing to licensing all of its products . 23 30 as of the same year it outsourced its vermicompost production to worm farmers in north carolina . 31 from 2012 terracycle and various tobacco companies partnered to launch a widespread collection and recycling system for cigarette butts . 32 the cigarette butt filters generally made from cellulose acetate are refined into pellets that are then used in the production of plastic items such as shipping pallets benches and ashtrays . 33 the company promises that the recycled plastic from cigarette filters will only be used in industrial products and not in household plastics due to its exposure to nicotine . 33 the recycled cellulose acetate is mixed with other recycled plastics to create usable industrial products . 33 tobacco and paper are composted in this program . 32 34 it took six months for the development of the cigarette butt recycling solution . 33 on january 29 2014 progressive waste solutions announced a 19.99 % interest acquisition in terracycle canada to cooperate on recycling initiatives in canada . 35 products and services edit terracycle has created approximately 200 products all of which are licensed to manufacturers instead of made by terracycle itself . 23 plant food edit terracycle began with the production of fertilizer made from vermicompost which is made by feeding organic waste to worms . the worms excrement is then liquefied into compost tea by mixing it with air and warm water in large vats . 36 it packages the material in reused plastic water bottles . 3 13 the spray bottle tops are rejects from other companies . 3 7 residue left over from the vats is used in potting soil and seed starter products . 36 37 upcycled products edit a terracycle backpack made from capri sun juice pouches . the company diversified its production into upcycling around 2007 and began creating products from other waste items . 2 for example it makes pencil cases and backpacks made from used drink pouches . 31 various products from pre consumer waste and post consumer waste include messenger bags binders notebooks and tote bags . 28 31 recycled products edit plastic packaging waste that is not upcycled is recycled into plastic products including flower pots plastic lumber plastic pavers bike racks park benches and garbage and recycling cans . 38 39 brigade programs edit terracycle s brigade programs enable individuals or groups to collect specified waste materials in exchange for donations to a selected cause or school . 2 25 users sign up over the internet 25 and shipping and donation costs are generally covered by a sponsoring company related to the specified brigade . 23 31 the waste materials typically non recyclable are either refurbished upcycled or recycled . 40 41 corporate identity edit logo edit according to tom szaky the name terracycle came up at the beginning as the idea of earth and cycle . 11 szaky thought up the name with another princeton university student during a road trip from new jersey to florida . 42 the terracycle company logo is a green infinity symbol with two arrows pointed toward one another . szaky designed the logo during the middle of a lecture at princeton . 30 television show edit terracycle was the subject of a national geographic reality television series named garbage moguls . 43 the pilot premiered on earth day april 22 2009 . 10 the show featured the terracycle team searching for solutions to various waste streams . 10 31 in 2014 44 pivot launched human resources a reality tv series providing a behind the scenes and at times humorous look at day to day operations at terracycle headquarters . 45 web game edit see also trash tycoon terracycle partnered with game developer guerillapps to make a facebook based flash game known as trash tycoon . 46 the game was launched in 2011 12 and it mimics terracycle s actual business model . 46 major sponsors for the game include carbonfund.org and treehugger.com . 46 revenue is generated through the inclusion of brand logos within the game and the use of virtual currency . 47 terracycle receives 25 % of the advertising revenue but none of the virtual currency revenue . 48 the game donates 10 % of its revenues to carbonfund.org . 46 in the game players take on the roles of recycling entrepreneurs who perform actions such as upcycling and composting . 46 avatars collect litter from the streets completing missions to earn points . 49 50 the game features synchronized multiplayer play . 46 corporate affairs edit the front of terracycle s headquarters . an inside view of the terracycle office in trenton new jersey . headquarters edit terracycle s main headquarters are located in trenton new jersey . the office was originally a 20 000 square foot abandoned warehouse for a newspaper distribution facility . 21 51 the headquarters were bought by terracycle in the summer of 2004 . 52 its renovations were designed by tiffany threadgould an employee 43 and its walls are painted annually by local graffiti artists at graffiti jams . 3 23 25 corporate culture edit according to szaky terracycle s culture is fairly relaxed in an attempt to foster a social atmosphere where everyone can enjoy themselves because he believes that people do their best work when they are comfortable and relaxed . 14 furthermore the company has a lenient dress code . 14 colorful walls artistically minded furniture and activities supposedly bring about employees creativity . 14 every terracycle employee writes a weekly status report that is compiled into a company wide biweekly report to improve internal transparency . 53 finance edit as of 2013 terracycle maintains a one percent profit margin of revenue . 41 tom szaky reported terracycle sales in 2004 as 77 000 ; 2005 as 500 000 ; 2006 as 1.6 million ; 2007 as 3.3 million ; 2008 as 6.6 million ; 2009 as 7.3 million ; and 2010 as 13.5 million . 54 see also edit companies portal tom szaky recycling upcycling references edit a b c company overview of terracycle inc. . bloomberg businessweek .