TerraCycle gets two cents worth

TerraCycle, Inc., the pioneering upcycling company headquartered in Trenton, NJ, has partnered up with three major companies to work with schools as part of three new packaging reclamation programs in Canada.

Stonyfield Farm, the world’s largest organic yogurt brand, has been working on a new packaging reclamation program in that will make their organic offerings even more sustainable. Partnering with TerraCycle, Stonyfield has created the Yogurt Cup Brigade, a free program that will contribute $0.02 to a school or non-profit for every used yogurt cup a participant collects. Launched in August, just in time for the new school year, the program is open to any individual or organization who signs up.

Nestlé Canada, the maker of Smarties and Kit Kat, have been working working with TerraCycle since early 2010 on an initiative to collect difficult-to-recycle packaging and ‘upcycle’ them into fun, innovative products. The new partnership will create the first Chocolate Wrapper Brigade in Canada, a free program that will pay schools and non-profits across Canada to help collect some of the hundreds of millions of used candy wrappers that go to landfill every year.  Participants can return the wrappers free of charge to TerraCycle to be upcycled into eco-friendly items such as tote bags, kites, backpacks and other accessories that will be readily available at major Canadian retailers. For each wrapper returned through the program, Nestlé and TerraCycle will pay $0.02 to a school or charity of the collector’s choice.

Glad Products Company and TerraCycle have also teamed up to form the Glad Brigade so that schools, organizations and individuals can collect bags and containers of any size and send them free of charge to TerraCycle to be turned into new plastic-based products made from 100 per cent recycled material.  For every 10 Glad food bags or one GladWare container collected, Glad and TerraCycle will pay $0.02 to the non-profit organization selected by group or person actually doing the collection.

Stonyfield

Stonyfield Farm, founded in 1983 in Londonderry N.H., is the world’s leading organic yogurt company. The Stonyfield Yogurt Brigade, will operate as both a waste reducing effort for local organizations and as a fundraising opportunity for the groups that need the additional funding most.  Schools and non-profits are often the hardest hit in economic downturns and need every dollar they can raise.  However, the positive impact does not end there, as kids and adults will both be educated and inspired to get involved in cleaning up their local communities and reducing landfill proliferation.

Stonyfield is made entirely with certified organic Canadian milk and produced locally by Danone, Inc. in Canada, the country’s largest manufacturer and distributor of yogurt and dairy products.

At the core of Stonyfield’s brand values is a commitment to a healthy planet. The brand’s mission is to reduce its environmental footprint with careful consideration of the materials used to package its products. Consumer health and safety are critical priorities for the company and its type-6 polystyrene multi-flavour containers meet all standard safety and security criteria.

Although No. 6 polystyrene is recyclable, there are currently no facilities available in Canada that accept this material on a continuous basis. For the past several months, Danone and the Stonyfield brand have been taking concrete actions to develop and implement a recycling solution for PS6.

“Stonyfield is a socially responsible brand which endeavours in favour of organic food for everyone, because it’s good for the health and for the planet. This partnership allows us to take a concrete action towards protecting our environment and to obtain a concrete result,” states Iannick Melançon, Brand Manager, Stonyfield Canada.

“TerraCycle is excited to develop line of ‘Upcycled’ products from used Stonyfield yogurt cups,” said Robin Tator, President of TerraCycle Canada. “We know the free collection program and the products we develop will be well received by Canada’s environmentally concerned consumers.”

Nestlé Canada

Nestlé is committed to sustainability and strives to ensure they are stewards of the environment in all of their business practices. Focus areas such as energy, water and waste reduction are integral to their business. Bringing value to society and their business is their guiding principle and this long term commitment is what they call creating shared value (CSV). This new Terracycle partnership is simply a pillar of Nestlé’s CSV commitment.

Most food and beverage packaging is a hybrid material, a varying combination of different types of plastic, aluminum and paper. This gives the packaging the strength needed to be both safe and convenient and also provides adequate shelf life, unfortunately it also means that traditional recycling systems are unable to process the material. By working with TerraCycle, Nestlé is now providing a free collection system that makes their wrappers recyclable through TerraCycle’s innovative ‘upcycling’ process.

“As a leader in the Canadian food industry, Nestlé is committed to respecting the environment, supporting sustainable development and applying sustainable business practices that we believe, in the long-term, will create shared value to our worldwide community.” said Gary Batey, marketing director, Nestlé Confectionery.  “Working with TerraCycle through the Chocolate Wrapper Brigade is another way we can demonstrate this commitment, raise awareness and help our consumers positively contribute as well.”

The Chocolate Bar Brigade is a fun and easy way for parents and teachers to empower youth to make a difference locally and globally while at the same time learning about the importance of recycling and reusing.

Glad Products Company

The Glad Brigade is especially excited about the inclusion of a new material to the TerraCycle collection program in Canada. With most municipal recycling programs around the country not accepting plastic bags, this is an excellent way to keep plastic out of landfills.

“We are really pleased to be adding new materials to our collection programs,” said TerraCycle chief executive officer Tom Szaky. “It’s exciting to be able to find new uses for more and more materials that would otherwise be ending up in landfills and giving schools and other non profit organizations a much needed fundraising opportunity at the same time.”

Brigades are a fun and easy way for citizens to empower communities and individuals to make a difference locally and globally while at the same time learning about the importance of recycling and reusing.

Rob Emery, brand manager, Glad Canada, said, “At Glad, we take preserving the environment in which we live very seriously.  We believe it is our responsibility as a major corporation and citizens of the planet to help in whatever way possible.  Our partnership with TerraCycle allows us to make a positive impact by reducing our environmental footprint while helping non profit organizations raise money through recycling.”

About TerraCycle

TerraCycle represents a new generation of company, putting as much emphasis on its social and environmental impact as its profits. In 2001, college freshman Tom Szaky founded TerraCycle in hopes of building a new, more responsible way of doing business.  Since then, TerraCycle has revolutionized the industry by making eco-friendly and affordable products from waste materials.  To learn more about joining a TerraCycle Brigade, go to www.terracycle.ca/brigades.