Talking Clean with Irene

You wouldn't believe what you could recycle

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Tom Szaky is the founder and CEO of Terracycle, an innovative waste management company on a mission to make a difference in the world by improving our global waste problem. With Tom's entrepreneurial mindset, he developed innovative programs to help consumers and businesses recycle (and upcycle) difficult to recycle products such as coffee capsules and toothbrushes.

 

Key Takeaways:

  1. Tom provides insight on how most items are recyclable, but it often comes down to economics. Big businesses could potentially lose money from recycling and it is cheaper for them to forgo recycling altogether. TerraCycle works to secure funding from brands, manufacturers and retailers in order to develop free recycling programs for the public.
  2. TerraCycle work to integrate waste back into new products, for example creating new packaging for products out of plastic found in our oceans and waterways.
  3. TerraCycle is working with local brands in Australia to get them to recycle their own packaging through a model called Loop. Woolworths will be one of the first companies to participate in the program.
  4. Not all glass and plastic are made equal. When choosing a product, try to choose glass that isn’t coloured (easier to recycle) and rigid plastics over soft plastics. When recycling a coloured product (like a coloured plastic shampoo bottle or a dark amber glass beer bottle), these materials can ONLY be recycled into a new item of the same or a darker colour.
  5. Nourished Life has partnered with TerraCycle to provide the option for customers to return their used product packaging to be recycled. Send your empty products to Nourished Life such as toothpaste tubes and we will send to TerraCycle to be recycled.

    6.  

    Links and resources:

    • https://www.nourishedlife.com.au/terracycle.html
    • https://www.terracycle.com/en-AU


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        Talking Clean with IreneBy Irene Falcone from Nourished Life