Plastic Free July challenges people to rethink their relationship with single-use plastic — but cutting back is only half the equation. The other half is figuring out what to do with the plastic that’s already in your life. TerraCycle, an international leader in innovative sustainability solutions, helps close that gap by recycling hard-to-recycle items that curbside services typically won’t accept.
The urgency behind the Plastic Free July movement is real: the world now produces over 460 million metric tons of plastic every year, and most of it was never designed to be recovered.
“The reason most flexible plastics and composite packaging never get recycled isn’t apathy, it’s economics. The cost to collect, sort, and recycle those materials traditionally outweighs the value of what is recovered, so the conventional systems ignore them and send those materials to landfills or incinerators,” said Tom Szaky, Founder and CEO of TerraCycle. “Plastic Free July puts a spotlight on that problem, but a one-month pledge isn’t the answer. It’s consuming less year-round because the most economical material to recover is the one that never gets made in the first place. TerraCycle is committed to investing in every stage of the waste journey, from the programs and platforms that serve everyday consumers to the infrastructure that handles what the conventional system ignores entirely.”
TerraCycle offers a range of programs and solutions to help individuals, businesses, schools, and retailers tackle hard-to-recycle items that curbside services typically won’t accept.
Here are a few powerful ways to take action this Plastic Free July:
- Free Recycling Programs – Brand-sponsored programs that allow participants to collect and recycle accepted items by shipping them to TerraCycle using prepaid shipping labels, helping to keep hard-to-recycle items out of landfills and incinerators, while expanding access to recycling solutions nationwide.
- Zero Waste Box – Paid recycling solutions for hard-to-recycle items that municipal services typically don’t accept. Available for a wide range of materials, the boxes allow households, schools, offices, and facilities to collect and recycle items using a prepaid shipping box.
- TerraCycle Commercial – TerraCycle Commercial, a division of TerraCycle Inc., helps businesses safely and compliantly manage regulated and universal waste, including mercury-containing fluorescent lamps, electronics, batteries, and other materials that require specialized handling. Built through a series of acquisitions, TerraCycle Commercial is a leading regulated and universal waste recycling service in the United States.
- TerraCycle Made – Products manufactured using recycled content generated through TerraCycle’s recycling operations, transforming recovered materials into functional everyday items and supporting circular material use
- Loop – TerraCycle’s reusable packaging platform partners with major brands and retailers to replace single-use packaging with durable, reusable alternatives that are collected, cleaned, refilled, and reused. The platform has expanded to more than 500 Carrefour supermarkets across France, with more than 400 products from participating brands, including Ferrero, Danone, Coca-Cola, and Suntory. This demonstrates how reusable packaging systems can operate successfully at commercial scale across all consumer packaged goods categories.
- The TerraCycle Foundation – A non-profit created by TerraCycle, the TerraCycle Foundation works with local communities to capture and recycle waste from heavily polluted rivers and canals before it reaches the ocean. To date, the Foundation has removed more than 3.6 million pounds of waste from waterways worldwide
- Invest in the Future of Recycling – One of the most powerful ways to take action is to invest in building the recycling infrastructure the world needs. TerraCycle has spent more than 20 years doing exactly that, and through its SEC-qualified Regulation A public offering, open to everyday investors and not just institutions, is raising up to $75 million to fund the continued growth and strategic acquisitions that advance the mission of Eliminating the Idea of Waste.
From households to global brands, TerraCycle continues to expand recycling and reuse solutions designed to help keep valuable materials in use and out of landfills and incinerators. Investors interested in TerraCycle’s Regulation A Offering can review the details and participate by visiting invest.terracycle.com. To learn more about TerraCycle’s recycling solutions, reusable packaging platforms, and sustainability initiatives, visit terracycle.com.
