Terracycle – Recycling 1 Million Pounds of 'Hard to Recycle' Materials Each Week
Finding Genius Podcast
Richard Jacobs
4.4 • 1K Ratings
🗓️ 17 May 2017
⏱️ 22 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
From recycling #7 plastic to traditionally "un-recyclable" materials (juice pouches), Terracycle has been able to reduce landfill waste as well as provide reliable and useable source materials for manufacturers.
Tom's aim is to eliminate the concept of waste altogether. His vision has been a driving force in recycling 1 Million Pounds of waste per week, making Terracycle a leader in the "Circular Economy". They have introduced world's first recycling database that helps people identify where they can go to recycle almost any household product.
Terracycle now serves 21 countries around the world with a vision to reduce landfill use globally.
The biggest challenge in the waste / recycling process is to cover the direct and indirect costs while generating profit. In order to tackle this, they try and ensure recycled materials meet manufacturer's requirements and are recycled on demand.
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Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | Welcome to Almost Here, Round the Corner of Future Technology Podcasts with Richard Jacobs. |
| 0:07.9 | Future Technologies always to transform our lives for better or worse are the focus of this podcast. |
| 0:13.6 | Almost here means these technologies are now here and starting to be used. |
| 0:17.7 | We're just around the corner. |
| 0:19.7 | From Bitcoin to artificial intelligence, 3D around the corner, from Bitcoin to artificial intelligence, |
| 0:22.0 | 3D printing, blockchain, virtual reality, and more. |
| 0:26.0 | Hi, this is Richard Jacobs from Future Tech Podcast. |
| 0:29.5 | Today I have a guest that I've wanted to interview for a long time, a hero of mine for many |
| 0:33.9 | years, Tom Sacki, founder and CEO of TerraCycle. Terracycle specializes |
| 0:40.5 | in recycling extremely hard to normally recycle composite materials like juice pouches, and I believe |
| 0:48.2 | number seven plastic. Is that right, Tom? Absolutely. Well, thanks for having me. Yeah, Terracicle |
| 0:53.4 | today, we're in, gosh, |
| 0:55.1 | I think 21 countries around the world and we recycle hundreds of waste streams. Everything from |
| 0:59.6 | things like juice pouches, cigarette butts, fam hygiene products. I mean, you name it, anything that |
| 1:04.4 | you can't put in your recycling bin, we typically have some answer for. You know, I read, I think, |
| 1:09.2 | your first book years ago, and I believe you started out trying to do an earthworm project. You know, I read, I think your first book years ago, and I believe you started out trying |
| 1:12.2 | to do an earthworm project. Tell listeners how you first got involved in thinking about recycling. |
| 1:19.5 | Absolutely. Terracicle started actually, you know, our entire purpose, which has never changed, |
| 1:25.2 | has always been around how do we eliminate the idea of waste? |
| 1:28.0 | Because waste is a very modern idea that's really come about because of increase of consumerism, |
| 1:33.4 | consumption, and what we consume being made from really complex materials. |
| 1:38.6 | And so we first started that journey by trying to make consumer goods out of waste. |
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