terracylcle


 * In Class Assignment #2: Upcycling, Downcycling and Terracycle **
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 * 1. Define “upcycling”. **

Upcycling is taking the product that’s identified as waste and using every aspect of it. A piece of waste can be understood in two ways: the material that it consists of and it’s original shape. In order to upcycle it, one has to retain both aspects of the waste when reusing it. Both aspects would be intact. For example, juice pouches can be sewn together to create a backpack. The shape of the original waste is still intact because it was not melted down and recycled.


 * 2. Define “downcycling”. **

Downcycling is recycling a material into a material that is of lesser quality. Once a material is recycled, the materials lose part of its original value. For example, recycling plastic would always result in a lower grade plastic. All downcycling means that they can only be used in a degraded form and reduces part of the functionality.


 * 3. Why is Terracycle one of the largest growing sustainable businesses in the world? **

Terracycle is able to make use of materials that can’t be recycled and turn them into new products. They take what would otherwise be garbage from people and companies and making use of waste. They’re also educating people by partnering with large corporation and providing information on their website that can get consumers involved. The cost of materials comes from donations that are provided by people who sign up for their website, and their profits go towards helping the community. They have expanded on an international scale and have created successful trends about upcycling and refurbished goods.


 * 4. Who started this business, and why have they been so successful? **

Tom Szaky, a 19 year-old Princeton University freshmen first started this business, by using red wiggler worms for composting that created a fertilizer for indoor plants. He was joined by Suman Sinha and established TerraCycle as a plant food product that was distributed in big box stores. As that developed, they also grew into a company that takes non-recyclable goods and upcycles them into new products. It's success comes from the donations and cooperation with large corporations, where they get raw materials to make into new objects.


 * 5. Describe their business model. **

Terracycle’s business model starts with utilizing the Internet by allowing users to sign up on their website for free and allowing them to select the types of waste they would like to collect. It uses donations from people around the world as supplies for creating their products. Users can put out a collection box either at home or in their community and collect a large quantity of packaging waste. The waste is then shipped to Terracycle where they can use the (likely unrecyclable) packaging waste to create new products or materials. Terracycle then gives back to the volunteers by donating $0.02 per unit to charities.


 * 6. Find another business online which also has a sustainable business model. Copy the link to their website, and write a paragraph description as to why their model is so successful. **


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Eco-products is a green company that operates in disposables, using no virgin materials and producing zero waste. They measure and track environmental impacts like carbon, energy and water that go into our raw materials, manufacturing, transportation, shipping, and distribution. They have organized all their products with either GreenStripe ® (made from renewable resources) or BlueStripe™(made from post-consumer recycled content). They all fall into two categories: made from renewable resources (like corn, sugarcane or plant starch) or made from recycled content (like RPET, PCF or RPS). They strive in making goods that are compostable, taking about 180 days to break down.