I came across a very interesting post on Terracycle by Yifei. Terracycle Inc. is a social enterprise that produces organic fertilizer out of liquified worm excretes packaged in soda bottles. These worms were fed waste that people threw into the recycling bin, thus making the whole business a win-win situation for both the people and the environment. The founder of Terracycle is a Princeton graduate, who came across this brilliant idea on a trip to Montreal with his friends when he was 19. Since then, Terracycle has built its brand to be one of the most internationally renowned upcycling and recycling companies. They currently work with more than one hundred brands spread in 23 countries all over the world.
Just recently, TerraCycle even began a partnership with the City of Vancouver to launch the first ever recycling program for cigarette butts. The Cigarette Waste Brigade pilot program has set up 110 new cigarette recycling receptacles in the Downtown area, with stickers reading “Recycles Your Butts Here.” This program will not only help to reduce waste on Vancouver Downtown streets but also create more job opportunities as staff is needed to maintain these receptacles.
TerraCycle is truly the perfect embodiment of the spirit of social entrepreneurship, working hard to create a win-win-win situation for the business owner, the people, as well as the environment.
Sources:
“City and TerraCycle Launch Cigarette Butt Collection and Recycling Program.” City of Vancouver, 12 Nov. 2013. Web. 18 Nov. 2013.
“TerraCycle.” TerraCycle. N.p., n.d. Web. 18 Nov. 2013.
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