Two ambitious young Princeton students, Tom Szasky and Jon Beyer, founded Terracycle in 2001. Their main idea in founding the company was to do something productive using waste products. They used worms to turn garbage into useful items like fertilizer. This is a process known as upcycling.
Some of the products produced by Terracycle include fertilizer, all-purpose cleaner, recycled fence, picture frames, and cactus plant food. Rubbermaid and Oxo Good Grips are two U.S. plastic companies that have purchased plastics from TerraCycle. Old Navy and Office Depot each had promotions sponsored by Terracycle for Earth Day. Terracycle also had a program called Bottle Brigade that was used for fundraising for schools.
Although Terracycle has some innovative ideas, I do not believe that this company is making a huge impact on the world today. They seem like a company that has gained some recognition because they are environmentally-friendly; however, they do not make many useful products, and they are not a well-known name brand. I think they could become more prolific as they do more research and testing in the future, but as of now I think that their impact on the market is minimal.
