Why are some things recyclable and others aren’t?

Why are some things recyclable through municipal recycling, and others aren't? It all comes down to economics. Find out why your curbside recycling program only recycles a few types of waste streams and how TerraCycle can recycle your hard-to-recycle trash:  What is considered recyclable?  Most curbside recycling programs only accept cardboard, aluminum cans, a few … Continue reading Why are some things recyclable and others aren’t?

8 ideas for reducing, reusing, and recycling in the classroom

As the school year begins, it’s the perfect time to set sustainable habits in your classroom. We’ve got you covered with ideas for reducing waste in the classroom—and getting your students excited about it! Get to the “why” Sorting trash into the correct bins isn’t all that exciting—until you realize that it makes you a … Continue reading 8 ideas for reducing, reusing, and recycling in the classroom

Why are TerraCycle programs free but Zero Waste Boxes have a cost?

For over 20 years, TerraCycle has been an international leader in sustainability solutions. We’ve developed first-of-their-kind solutions to recycle the unrecyclable—waste streams that aren’t typically curbside recyclable.  We offer free and paid recycling solutions for your unrecyclable trash; sometimes, people wonder why some of our offerings are free and others aren’t. Here’s everything you need … Continue reading Why are TerraCycle programs free but Zero Waste Boxes have a cost?

What happens to the recycling once it has been processed?

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, … Continue reading What happens to the recycling once it has been processed?

How can TerraCycle recycle the unrecyclable?

What does “recycling” actually mean? The Ellen Macarthur Foundation defines material recycling as “reprocessing, by means of a manufacturing process, of a used packaging material into a product, a component incorporated into a product, or a secondary (recycled) raw material; excluding energy recovery and the use of the product as a fuel.”  However, what makes … Continue reading How can TerraCycle recycle the unrecyclable?

Is the mail-back recycling process really better than landfills or incineration?

In our last post, we showed why recycling is better than landfills. But sometimes people still ask us about the environmental effects of our whole process, including the environmental impact of getting the items back to us to recycle. Our engineers regularly conduct a Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) of our process that is then third-party … Continue reading Is the mail-back recycling process really better than landfills or incineration?