Bioneers SE News: TerraCycle's Eco-capitalism Model
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In a new generation of eco-entrepreneurs, Tom Szaky and Jon Beyer consider themselves pioneers of eco-capitalism. These concepts emerge as it becomes more obvious that we, as stewards of our environment, must be mindful of our consumption of natural capital. In 2001, while students at Princeton University, Szaky and Beyer experimented with an innovative idea to use organic waste as a raw material to create plant food. The raw material they used was leftover food from their dining hall! Though not a clean project, Szaky and Beyer fed dining hall waste to worms and then liquefied the worm poop to transform it into organic plant food. When the concept was proven to be effective, Szaky and Beyer formed TerraCycle, Inc. to market their product.
Building the Company
Investors were initially wary, most likely due to the age of the founders. However, TerraCycle, Inc., headquartered in Trenton, NJ, now has 15 products and expects its 2006 revenue to total $1.5 million. Today, in addition to manufacturing products made entirely from waste, TerraCycle, Inc. also packages all of its products in waste. The company re-uses (not recycles) soda bottles to package the organic plant food. Bottle Brigades are formed at collection centers, and TerraCycle, Inc. offers them $0.05 for every bottle. In addition, bottles are collected at fundraisers and at recycling centers around the country. The empty soda bottles, 1,265,309 of which have been reused to date. are simply washed and decorated with a eco-friendly TerraCycle, Inc. label. TerraCycle Inc.'s products are not innovative simply because they are ecologically harmless but because they both benefit the environment and appeal to consumers. Better than minimizing waste, TerraCycle, Inc. uses waste as a raw material. And, better than maintaining natural capital, it renews natural capital by being a proven effective plant food product. The start-up demonstrates the capacity of companies to be both financially successful and ecologically and socially responsible.
