Recycling
Recycling
What makes something locally recyclable
Almost everything can technically be recycled. But whether or not a local recycling service will recycle it depends on if they can make money doing so (think of it as “urban mining”). If the cost of collecting and processing the waste is lower than the value of the resulting raw material, it will likely be locally recyclable. If the costs are higher, then it likely won't be. That's why your local recycler typically accepts profitable-to-recycle items like aluminum cans, plastics #1 and #2, and cardboard, while the rest goes in your trash can and ends up in landfills or incinerators..
That's where TerraCycle comes in. We can recycle the unrecyclable because we partner with brands, retailers, and other stakeholders who fund the cost of recycling. Learn about our innovative models for recycling the unrecyclable.
Global waste generation
Only a small percentage of our trash is recycled
Despite the scale of the waste crisis, most products and packaging are not locally recyclable. One example is products packaged in flexible plastics. This packaging is not typically recycled because it’s not profitable to do so, yet the flexible plastics market is expected to grow to $164.3 billion by 2033. With global waste on track to increase by 70% by 2050, solutions are needed more than ever.
We're not your typical recycler. We recycle…
Cigarette butts
Beauty products
Disposable razors
Flip flops
Blister packs
PPE
Cannabis packaging
Horse inhalers
Menstrual cups
Food packaging
Aerosols
Toys
Styrofoam™
Wetsuits
E-cigarettes and vapes
E-waste
Tights
Recycling tons of trash around the world
Learn about our R&D breakthroughs that make all of this possible.
Check out Innovation
90+ million TerraCyclers worldwide
500+ active recycling programs
National recycling solutions in 20+ countries
Many programs are free
We’re able to offer free recycling solutions because stakeholders like retailers and brands fund the cost of collecting and recycling the waste.
Meet some of our participants
Sue - England
In 2023, Sue was awarded the Medal of the Order of the British Empire for her community service, including her TerraCycle drop-off point. So far, she’s collected 160,000 pounds of trash for recycling, earning over £71,000 that she donated to local charities.
Meet some of our participants
Liz - England
Since 2019, Liz has collected over 4,000 lbs of trash for recycling. She’s even set up a garden shed on her front lawn where community members can drop off 31 categories of waste.
Meet some of our participants
David - France
David has sent TerraCycle nearly one million pieces of waste for recycling since beginning his public drop-off point. As a result, he’s earned over €6,800 to support the work of his foundation, Les Marathons de la Prématurité.
Meet some of our participants
Vicky - Northern Ireland
Vicky collects trash for recycling in an old telephone booth. With the help of over 4,500 community members, she’s collected enough trash to raise £15,000 for Kicks Count, a stillbirth awareness charity.
Meet some of our participants
Thursday Island Pharmacy - Thursday Island, Australia
Thursday Island is an extremely remote island in the Pacific Ocean off the coast of Northern Queensland, Australia. But that doesn’t stop them from offering a TerraCycle public drop-off point for medicine blister packs at Thursday Island Pharmacy.
Meet some of our participants
Perth City Farm - East Perth, Australia
As one of TerraCycle’s highest-achieving public drop-off points for 2022, Perth City Farm has recycled 19,500 pieces using TerraCycle’s free recycling programs.
Meet some of our participants
Nakamano-kai - Japan
Nakamano-kai has donated over 20 books to local schools using their TerraCycle Recycling Reward points earned by recycling toothbrushes and food storage bags with TerraCycle.
Meet some of our participants
Responja - Brazil
Brazilians united to create this initiative to encourage the recycling of sponges. More than 35 kilograms of sponges have already been sent for recycling, which corresponds to approximately 4,500 sponges.
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Colégio Cenecista Pedro Antônio Fayal - Brazil
After noticing their use of a considerable volume of whiteboard markers, a competition was implemented between elementary and high school students to see who could recycle the most writing instruments.
Meet some of our participants
The Fundação Amazonas Sustentável - Brazil
Teachers developed activities with students to teach about recycling and environmental education while collecting waste for the 12 free recycling programs in which they participate.
Meet some of our participants
The Fundação Amazonas Sustentável - Brazil
Teachers developed activities with students to teach about recycling and environmental education while collecting waste for the 12 free recycling programs in which they participate.
How companies partner with us
Contacts
Horse inhalers
Sauce packets
Instrument strings
Food storage containers
PPE
Pet food packaging
Syringe filters in labs
Superdrug (UK): empty medicine blister packs across 200 stores
Monoprix (France): bathroom trash across locations
Big W (Australia): toy recycling and donation across locations
L’Oreal Canada: cosmetics and skincare products in Walmart, London Drugs, and Jean Coutu stores
Nordstrom (US): cosmetics and skincare products across locations
Sephora (Australia): beauty
Community recycling hubs and kiosks
Walmart and Sam’s Club (USA): Accepted 12 hard-to-recycle waste streams during the pilot stage and was the world’s first Community Recycling Hub!
Carrefour (France): Accepts 6 hard-to-recycle waste streams as the first Community Recycling Hub in Europe!
The Warehouse Group (New Zealand): Accepts 10 hard-to-recycle waste streams
Bulk recycling solutions
Bloomberg
AstraZeneca
Compass
Bristol Myers Squibb
See how our partnerships benefit communities around the world.
ImpactSome solutions have a cost
If there is not a free recycling program for a waste stream you’re looking to recycle, our paid recycling solutions offer the opportunity to invest in recycling almost any kind of trash. The price reflects production of the solution, transportation to you, and then back to our recycling facilities. The process of sorting, cleaning, processing, and recycling is also included in the cost. Our boxes are Forest Stewardship Council (FSC) certified.
Zero Waste Box™
Zero Waste Boxes let you recycle trash you can’t recycle through local curbside services, from coffee capsules to complex beauty waste.
Zero Waste Bag
In select countries, we offer Zero Waste Bags as a convenient solution for recycling hard-to-recycle trash, like plastic packaging, coffee capsules, shoes, Styrofoam™, and more.
How businesses recycle with us
Industry-specific recycling
Large-scale recycling
We partner with facilities around the world to recycle their hard-to-recycle waste.
74 (about 25,000 lbs) pallets of empty haircare bottles
Pitcher filters, pitcher pieces, faucet-mount filters
Water bottles, reservoirs, dry packs
20 truckloads (about 300,000 lbs) of security tags
700 truckloads of expired PPE
2,600 lbs of food containers per month
208 pallets (about 67,000 lbs) of plastic totes
Universal waste solutions
TerraCycle Regulated Waste provides recycling solutions for hazardous waste such as e-waste, lighting, solar panels, batteries, PPE, and aerosols.
Products & services
Making recycling fun
We’ve found ways to encourage people to recycle more by making recycling fun.
Curious what the trash we recycle turns into? So many things, from playgrounds to construction materials to sculptures to products you can buy for your home.
What we do with waste