Garbage Moguls

OverviewOverviewVideoVideoPhotosPhotosTerraCycleTerraCycleBuild Your Own WalletBuild Your Own WalletBuild Your Own BeadsBuild Your Own BeadsBuild Your Own Present BowBuild Your Own Present BowMogul ProfilesMogul ProfilesMore Mogul ProfilesMore Mogul ProfilesWorld of WasteWorld of WasteChasing the WasteChasing the WasteGarbage Toil and TroubleGarbage Toil and Trouble

CLEANING UP THE EARTH

TerraCycle was conceived in 2001 by two Princeton University students competing in a business plan contest. Since then it has become a major player in the eco-friendly business world.

HUMBLE BEGINNINGS

Tom Szaky started his first business, a Web design company called Flyte Design, at the age of 14.

In his third year of high school, Tom cycled solo from Toronto to Vancouver to raise $4,000 for the environmental organization Ontario Naturalists. He set a national speed record of 21 days for such a bike ride.

Tom attended Princeton, but dropped out to start TerraCycle.

TerraCycle’s first product was a fertilizer made from worm poop and packaged in used soda bottles.

ENVIRONMENTAL SUCCESS

TerraCycle has twice won the Home Depot Environmental Stewardship Award from Home Depot Canada.

A 2006 Inc. Magazine cover story named TerraCycle “The Coolest Little Start-Up in America.” That same year, Tom was named the “#1 CEO in America Under 30” in the magazine’s “30 Under 30 Awards,” beating billionaire Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg.

Since its inception, TerraCycle has salvaged over 10 million drink pouches, 50,000 energy bar wrappers, two million plastic bottles, and one million cookie wrappers.