You may already know that you can #RecycleEverything with TerraCycle: collect, ship, and then we recycle. That’s not the whole story, though. Our Materials Solutions team plays an important part too. Here’s how:
Recycling infrastructure is expensive, and because we consistently invent new ways to recycle and we recycle such a wide variety of materials, our Material Solutions team has built a network of processors with the latest equipment to implement our methods. Working with a third- party network allows us to be nimble and flexible.
Our agreement with these processors includes a guarantee that they will recycle all the materials we provide and nothing goes to landfill or incineration., and we audit our processes regularly.
Once the processors recycle our collected, sorted waste into raw materials (like plastic pellets, alloys, fibers), the raw materials are sold to manufacturers who make products using these recycled inputs instead of virgin ingredients.
Sometimes our brand partners will ask for specific items to be made from their recycled products and packaging.; in that case, we work with both our processors and our network of recycled product suppliers to produce a new product. We’ll recycle them into the best applications we can achieve for that specific material type, which could be anything from playgrounds to watering cans. In some cases, we are able to recycle products back into themselves.
Our Material Solutions Team also has a wide network of customers who purchase the processed materials to use them in their manufacturing process. We operate in 21 countries, so this network is constantly expanding.
Do your third party processors get bragging rights to inform their purchasers, or the public, that they’ve joined the circular economy by partnering with you? This is something I’d like to hear more about, so that as a consumer, I put my purchasing dollars towards a good idea.