TERRACYCLYING

A new Technology and Idea for upcycling waste.

In today’s challenging environment, we have been facing a lot about our waste.
Since almost every output that is produced through industry ends up as waste.
We have been throwing out more and more waste each day. In a study it was
assessed that in the last two decades, on an average a person in western
countries produce 2.7 pounds waste per day and in 2003 that number has
steadily increased to 4.5 pounds. I presume in the developing countries like ours,
we too are not far behind them despite of the fact that we are not much
industrialised but still producing waste perhaps more than developed countries.

In this case unlike the traditional manufacturing model, there is a smaller

negative environmental return (instead of new packing recycled materials are
used) and larger social return (due to the payment of fair wages etc). However to
pay for the increase in the social and environmental bottom line, profit is almost
sacrificed.

In order to make environment pollution free and friendly to the mankind on the
globe, the solution was brought up for the upcycling of waste. This idea now has
transformed into new technology called as TerraCycling. This is a revolutionary
upcycling company in the United States. The idea was floated by a newly
graduate Tom Szaky of Princeton University USA, and then he started viewing up
waste (which originally have a negative value people pay to have it taken away)
as valuable raw material.

The raw material which is used in the TerraCycling products are normally, drink
pouches, candy & cookies wrappers, chips bags, energy bar wrappers and yogurt
containers etc. The products which are made are items containing lawns/garden
materials, cleaners, and some office and school items and different bags
specially laptop bags and cell phone pouches. In the recycling the waste is
melted down to certain degree then the new product is made through, but the
TerraCycle technology has changed the process and it instead of melting down,
the waste through a process of upcycling is converted to a useable product
again.

The contents of TerraCycle’s ware houses are similar to that of landfills.

TerraCycle transform it from then discarded rubbish into valuable raw material.
TerraCycle’s upcycling brigades are the core of the organisation, making Szaky’s
grand idea possible. TerraCycle provides schools, churches and NGOs shipping
material and postages. Participants are then paid to collect non-recyclable food
packaging: chips bags, cookies and other wrappers. This benefits participating
organisations and Teracycle ends up with a highly organised warehouse full of
raw material.

What they are actually doing is that they are entering into contracts with other
big manufacturing companies like Lays or Mars and have contracted with them
to donate two cents for every bag the collecting brigade delivers to the
warehouse to the participant’s chosen charity. Initially there are 1000 sites and
more they are expanding it. The goal of the program is to engage at least
150,000 people and divert more than five million bags from landfills.

TerraCycle will produce affordable, highly quality consumer goods by repurposing

surplus and used packaging into products ranging from cell phone holders and
laptop sleeves to messenger bags significantly reducing the amount of waste
sent to landfills. TerraCycle looks forward to reaching on a goal making affordable
and environmentally responsible products.

In our country like Pakistan, we need to go with this idea as well. We normally
see poor young boys and girls wandering around the dustbins/landfills in search
of several type of waste and then the waste reaches to the manufactures that
produce the material through recycling. But even this whole exercise is neither
patronised by the state nor by someone else resulting the whole waste which
could have been an asset to the economy, is drained somehow. And at the same
time it is contributing to our environment more polluted.

So what do you think? What’s better for the environment? Upcycling a yogurt cup
into say a planter pot (in TerraCycling) or melting it down and creating a
toothbrush (in recycling)? I support both solutions.

Dated 5 July, 2009.

By M. Naeem Baig
This article is published in Technobiz Magazine Lahore Pakistan in its August, 2009 issue.