How I Built This with Guy Raz

Making garbage useful with Tom Szaky of TerraCycle

Aug 17, 2023

43:43

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Tom Szaky, founder of TerraCycle, talks about his entrepreneurial journey from starting a worm poop fertilizer company to building a multimillion dollar recycling business. He discusses the challenges and benefits of recycling, TerraCycle's transition to developing reusable packaging, and the need for strategic consumption to reduce waste.

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Quick takeaways

TerraCycle's Loop initiative promotes reusable packaging as a more effective waste-reduction tactic than recyclable packaging.

TerraCycle aims to transition away from its recycling division and focus on its Loop division as reusable models gain traction in the market.

TerraCycle emphasizes the need for a significant reduction in consumption as the ultimate solution to waste, highlighting the responsibility of businesses, consumers, and legislation in achieving a sustainable future.

Deep dives

Transitioning from Fertilizer to Waste Recycling

Tom Zaki, co-founder and CEO of TerraCycle, shares his journey of transitioning from a fertilizer company to a waste recycling service. Inspired by a friend who turned food scraps into worm poop fertilizer, Zaki became fascinated with the idea of garbage and sought to create business models that solve waste problems. TerraCycle collects various types of waste and processes them into raw materials for manufacturing other products. Zaki emphasizes the need to move away from the linear consumption model and towards a circular economy where materials are reused or recycled.

The Consequences of Ignoring Externalities in Business and Sustainability

01:15

The Lack of Market Solutions for Waste Disposal

01:35

The Transition to Reusable Containers: Implications for Businesses

01:22

Why Beverage and Food Companies Use Plastic Instead of Aluminum or Glass

01:11

Introduction

4min

From Worms to Wealth

13min

Shifting Focus to Garbage and Fulfilling an Order

3min

Transitioning from Composting to Recycling

13min

The True Cost of Cheap Consumer Products and the Goal of Strategic Consumption

3min

Changing the Economics of Recycling

5min

The Economics of TerraCycle and the Launch of Loop

7min

Transitioning from Recycling to Reusables

4min

Tom Szaky runs a recycling company, but he’d rather live in a world where recycling was obsolete...

Today, his company recycles everything from shampoo bottles and makeup containers to snack wrappers and cigarette butts. And through their recent Loop initiative, TerraCycle works with consumer brands to develop packaging that is actually reusable -- an even more effective waste-reduction tactic than recyclable packaging.

This week on How I Built This Lab, Tom recounts his entrepreneurial journey launching a worm poop fertilizer company from his college dorm room, then transforming that company into a multimillion dollar recycling business. Also, why Tom’s ultimate goal is to put himself out of business, and how our actual path to eliminating waste is radically reducing consumption.

This episode was produced by J.C. Howard and edited by John Isabella, with research by Kerry Thompson and music by Ramtin Arablouei. Our audio engineer was James Willetts.

You can follow HIBT on Twitter & Instagram, and email us at hibt@id.wondery.com.

See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

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How I Built This with Guy Raz

Making garbage useful with Tom Szaky of TerraCycle

Podcast summary created with Snipd AI

Quick takeaways

Deep dives

Transitioning from Fertilizer to Waste Recycling

The Reusable Packaging Program

The Economics of TerraCycle

Challenges and Solutions in Sustainable Packaging

The Long-Term Vision: Shifting Consumption Patterns

The Consequences of Ignoring Externalities in Business and Sustainability

The Lack of Market Solutions for Waste Disposal

The Transition to Reusable Containers: Implications for Businesses

Why Beverage and Food Companies Use Plastic Instead of Aluminum or Glass

Get the Snipd
podcast app

AI-powered
podcast player

Discover
highlights

Save any
moment

Share
& Export

AI-powered
podcast player

Discover
highlights

How I Built This with Guy Raz

Making garbage useful with Tom Szaky of TerraCycle

Podcast summary created with Snipd AI

Quick takeaways

Deep dives

Transitioning from Fertilizer to Waste Recycling

The Reusable Packaging Program

The Economics of TerraCycle

Challenges and Solutions in Sustainable Packaging

The Long-Term Vision: Shifting Consumption Patterns

The Consequences of Ignoring Externalities in Business and Sustainability

The Lack of Market Solutions for Waste Disposal

The Transition to Reusable Containers: Implications for Businesses

Why Beverage and Food Companies Use Plastic Instead of Aluminum or Glass

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