Most people wouldn’t think
much about a bunch of
worms eating food scraps
and having their waste used to nourish
house plants.
>>>But, when Tom Szaky saw friends
in Canada doing exactly that, he told
his friend, Jon Beyer, back at
Princeton University.
>>>In his discussions with Beyer,
Szaky realized a business creating a
consumer product entirely out of
waste could be a hit, provided the price
was right. The two cooked up a plan
and launched TerraCycle Inc. in 2001.
>>>A year later, Szaky dropped out
of Princeton to devote himself to the
business full-time. It has since
become one of the fastest growing
lawn and garden companies in the
United States – and one of the most
innovative. It also is one of the most
environmentally friendly.
>>>“From our business model to our
outreach program to our actual product,
everything we do is new and different
from any other business out
there,” says Szaky, the company’s
chief executive officer. Beyer is the
company’s chief information officer.
>>>TerraCycle feeds organic waste to
worms. Then, it converts the worms’
own waste for use as plant fertilizer.
The finished product is packaged in
used plastic 20-ounce soda bottles.
The bottle’s spray heads are leftovers
from companies that otherwise
would throw them out.
>>>To date, the company has
received more than $4.5 million
from investors, a group that includes
Isles Inc., a Trenton-based nonprofit
active in community development
and environmental programs.
>>>TerraCycle recruited experienced
business people to lend their
expertise to the start-up. “All of our
employees had successful careers,
but left them to join TerraCycle
because they believed in the company
so much,” Szaky says.
>>>TerraCycle’s big break came
when Home Depot agreed to carry
its plant food, no small deal for a
small company.
>>>“Just getting a meeting with a
store’s buyers is an extremely difficult
task,” Szaky says. However, he
knew that success in that task would
boost TerraCycle’s fortunes.
>>>“As a new gardening product, it
is extremely difficult to gain notoriety
while selling only in small, independently
owned gardening stores,”
Szaky says. “In order to gain customers
and remain competitive as a
gardening company, it is extremely
important to have distribution in a
large, national chain in which our
exposure would be high. Home
Depot has provided us with this
opportunity.”
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Other large retailers that now
carry TerraCycle include CVS and
Wal-Mart.
>>>Consequently, sales have taken
off. After growing to about $455,000
in 2005, annual sales are expected to
more than triple to $1.5 million this
year and jump to $6 million in 2007.
>>>The soda bottles themselves are
collected through a variety of
sources, all with an eye toward
reducing trash.
>>>More than 1,400 nonprofits collect
bottles for TerraCycle and
receive 5 cents for each one. The
groups, known collectively as the
“Bottle Brigade” can use the proceeds
in whatever way they see fit.
>>>A New Mexico nonprofit called
Earth’s Birthday Project recruits
additional groups to join the bottle
brigade. In turn, the recruits donate
their earnings to Earth’s Birthday,
which teaches children about nature
and conservation.
>>>TerraCycle also picks up bottles
through a partnership with Home
Depot stores in Canada. The stores
put out collection bins. In return,
TerraCycle donates 5 cents per bottle
to the Evergreen Foundation, a
Canadian environmental group.
>>>TerraCycle puts everything
together at a facility in Trenton,
where the company also has its
headquarters. “We chose Trenton to
be the site of our headquarters
because we wanted to help the local
community by providing jobs,”
Szaky says.
>>>TerraCycle employs eight fulltime
factory workers, all lifelong
Trenton residents, and adds up to 20
temporary workers during busy
times of the year.
>>>To encourage innovation,
TerraCycle created an open office
environment that fosters communication
and collaboration. A local
graffiti artist decorated the building
inside and out in an effort to show
off the work as an art form.
>>>The company also tries to minimize
the hierarchy and bureaucracy
that might otherwise stifle creativity.
>>>Creativity will be needed as
TerraCycle rolls out other gardening
products based on the same idea of
creating them out of waste. So far,
the company has launched nearly 15
products and plans on developing 20
more in 2007.
>>>One example is a potting mix
made out of worm waste, regular
compost, paper sludge and coconut
core. The mix is packaged in used 1-
gallon milk and water jugs. Visit TerraCycle's Website |
