TerraCycle specialises in providing solutions for hard-to-recycle products, working with a range of partners globally to eliminate the idea of waste. In Scotland alone, the organisation has 355 public drop-off sites across its programmes. Here, Julien Tremblin, general manager of TerraCycle Europe, tells Packaging Scotland about the organisation’s history, greatest achievements to date, and long-term aspirations.
Q) What’s the history of TerraCycle and how has the organisation grown over the years?
A) Our CEO Tom Szaky came up with the initial idea for TerraCycle while studying at Princeton University in 2001. The original business model was vermicomposting (converting food waste into worm poop), packaging it in used drinks bottles and selling the resulting fertilizer.
To find a larger supply of bottles, he created a national collection programme, which was the precursor for our current free recycling programmes.
TerraCycle launched in the UK, Brazil, and Canada in 2009, and in 2011 expanded to France, Norway, Spain, Germany, Ireland, Switzerland, Denmark, Belgium, and the Netherlands. Today we operate in 21 markets around the globe, including 12 in Europe.
We no longer produce fertilizer, now specialising in providing recycling solutions for some of the world’s toughest waste problems, including biscuit wrappers, crisp packets, writing instruments, cheese packaging and disposable PPE.
Q) What have been TerraCycle’s biggest achievements so far?
A) In the UK to date TerraCycle has recycled over 245 million pieces of waste via our network of over 4,750 public access collection locations.
We’re proud that for each unit of waste sent for recycling, TerraCycle points are awarded to the recycler which can be redeemed as monetary donations to good causes. Thanks to our brand partners and the hard work of volunteers across the country, more than £2 million has been raised for charities, schools and non-profit organisations.
We have also launched new platforms in recent years aimed at expanding our reach and increasing our positive impact. In 2019, for example, we unveiled Loop, a platform for reuse that allows any brand to create reusable versions of their product packaging and for any retailer to make those available to consumers. Loop pilots are currently live in selected Tesco stores and McDonald’s and Burger King restaurants.
Q) What are the long-term goals?
A) TerraCycle’s mission is to eliminate the idea of waste, however this is not something that can be achieved by increasing the public’s access to recycling alone.
We don’t believe recycling is a silver bullet for the waste crisis, and in an ideal world disposability would not be the norm.
However there are still products and packaging that are hard-to-recycle, and without a solution like TerraCycle’s they will go to landfill, incineration or the natural environment. Until these items are no longer in use, phased out in favour of a reduction in consumption, normalising reuse and utilising sustainable materials in place of hard-to-recycle ones, TerraCycle will continue to support brands and consumers to ensure they can recycle more.
We’re constantly adapting what we do to make eliminating the idea of waste a reality, which is why we launched Loop in 2019.
We’re also working towards new models that will collect multiple waste streams for recycling in a single location, enabling the creation of mini-recycling centres at retail shops, large supermarkets or directly provided at council locations or recycling centres. In May 2022 we launched two pilot schemes at household waste recycling centres with Blackburn with Darwen County Council in Lancashire, and Ealing Council in West London.
Q) Can you provide an overview of how your entire recycling process works?
A) Each shipment we receive is sent using a unique shipping label which is scanned so that we can see who has sent it and who we should award charity points to. The shipments are then weighed to determine the amount of charity points awarded to the collector and placed in a large storage tote with other waste from the same programme.
Once we have collected enough of a particular waste stream the materials will be compacted and bailed until we have enough to send for processing. This is typically a full lorry load or between 10 and 20 tonnes however this varies depending on the waste stream.
Generally speaking, plastic waste is shredded, washed and sorted depending on its type. The material is then dried, compounded and pelletised into hard-granulated plastic granules. The granules are then incorporated by manufacturers into the production of a wide range of different plastic products such as fence posts, benches, outdoor furniture and building applications.
In terms of other materials:
• Metals are separated by specific type and melted into ingots for re-use.
• Organics are used in industrial and commercial fertilizers.
• Fibres will be hydropulped to separate out coatings (like wax and plastics). The separated fibre will be recycled into new paper products, or composted if recycling is not possible. The resulting plastics will be recycled into plastic polymers.
• Glass is cleaned and sorted by colour for processing. It is then crushed and melted to be used in new glass products or other applications
Q) What are some of the brands/companies you work with and can you provide examples of your work with them?
A) In the UK we have partnered with more than 40 leading brands to offer free recycling programmes. These include Babybel, Baylis & Harding, BIC, Carex, Cathedral City, pladis (McVitie’s and Jacob’s), Pringles, Murad and more.
As well as our free recycling programmes, TerraCycle also partners with brands and retailers to launch in-store take back schemes for products and packaging, for example the L’Occitane Free Recycling Programme and the Maybelline Makeup Free Recycling Programme.
We also offer Zero Waste Boxes for any individual or business looking to reduce the amount of waste they send to landfills and incineration. These are a paid-for solution and the price of each box includes the cost of transporting, sorting and processing the waste.
Our Zero Waste Boxes allow you to recycle almost anything from home or the workplace, so they’re a great option for any waste streams we don’t have free recycling programmes for.
Q) Are you doing much in Scotland?
A) In Scotland we currently have 355 public drop-off locations across our free recycling programmes.
As with all of our programmes there is always scope to do more, and we are always looking out for more people to sign up as public drop-off locations or more businesses and brands to partner with to launch new programmes.
Q) How would you describe the packaging industry’s response to the climate emergency? Have you been encouraged by the industry’s commitment to reducing waste?
A) From a recycling point of view, the waste crisis has placed an emphasis on sustainability and consumers are going to greater lengths to avoid single-use packaging and are purchasing products that come in more environmentally friendly packaging. As a result, brands have had to do more to reduce the amount of packaging being sent to landfills, and we are seeing a great deal of change across the industry.
This is certainly a positive step, and we hope to see more brands and manufacturers moving towards widely recyclable materials in their packaging.
However, as the current recycling infrastructure is not in place to handle difficult-to-recycle materials such as flexible plastics, there are limitations as to what can be achieved.
Recent developments such as in-store flexible packaging recycling are encouraging, and brands are working to government guidelines of making their packaging widely recyclable by 2025, but we need to keep up the momentum and collaborate on reducing the amount of waste we send to landfill.
