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Trenton, NJ — The market for products made from waste packaging is getting a big boost this month as Walmart stocks items made by TerraCycle at all of its stores.
Walmart will offer 60 products made by TerraCycle, which collects packaging and trashed products to turn into usable goods, throughout April as part of its Earth Month campaign.
The TerraCycle items will be sold next to the original products they are made from, so customers might see purses and bags made from Mars wrappers next to candy bars, or backpacks made from Capri Sun packaging next to juice-filled pouches that could one day be a TerraCycle creation.
"It is, by far, the most TerraCycle products ever available nationally or ever available in one retailer," said TerraCycle spokesperson Albe Zakes. It is also the first time Walmart will carry more than one TerraCycle product nationally. TerraCycle also sells items through Target, Kmart and Home Depot.
The promotion marks the release of the first TerraCycle products that will not feature the logo side of packaging, instead using the white or silver side to make patterns like flowers and skulls.
TerraCycle gets its waste from collection brigades that send in energy bar and candy wrappers, drink pouches, chip and cookie bags, pens and Sharpies, empty glue tubes and tape dispensers, butter tubs, and more.
The company brings in about 2 million pieces of packaging a week from 60,000 schools and community groups, donating 2 cents to non-profits chosen by each collection group. TerraCycle expects to donate close to $2 million this year.
The right solution?
Wal Mart and other stores like Target sell these items year round as I've seen them there before. The majority of these products appear to be made of unused packaging, 'post-industrial' materials like packaging that companies ordered and never used. There are already recycling streams for these materials (composite plastics), and if companies had better planning systems such waste would not exist in the first place. It would be great to see more TerraCycle products made purely of post-consumer materials, and it would be great for companies to promote reuse/refills for items like pens, glue, tape dispensers, etc. Granted, these would probably not be as financially lucrative for companies. TerraCycle is a great program but in a way, perhaps it encourages waste and efficiency or at least helps companies and consumers feel better about it?
Yes, the right solution
Materials are sent to TerraCycle from consumers. Just because a package appears to be unused, doesn't mean that it is. Capri Sun is the most wasteful beverage packaging I can think of, at least TerraCycle are trying to do something with it since Kraft doesn't seem to care.
TeraCycle uses a lot of post-industrial materials
TerraCycle does indeed have consumers mail back materials but the bulk of their packaging film seems to be pre-consumer....factory surplus. The juice pouch items are likely the highest post-consumer-content item they offer. I've seen the things they make w/ Clif Bar, Mars, Oreo and other brands and they're clearly pre-consumer ('post-industrial") film from uncut rolls of unused film. Several items also use what appear to be new, pre-fab, solid-color bags, with the packaging film sewn on. The packaging seems extraneous and unnecessary and the base item is not recycled. What's the story there? Does using the packaging help sell otherwise unwanted bags that would be landfilled? Couldn't such materials be donated to schools sans brand packaging?
why only durinag april- they
why only durinag april- they should just do it year round- i bet it will turn wal-mart haters into partial wal-mart accepters