Tom Szaky

Founder and CEO, TerraCycle /

Tom Szaky is the founder and CEO of TerraCycle, the world’s first company that manufactures and packages products from garbage.

Tom left Princeton University during his Sophomore year to follow his dream of founding a truly eco-capitalist company. After an inauspicious start in a friend’s garage with no investors, Tom, and the company behind him, have become environmental thought leaders pushing sustainable products and practices into mainstream outlets.

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  Fashion Can Be an Influence in Environmental Change

  Tossing something in a recycling bin or using that bag over and over isn't always the answer.

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  Film "Last Call at the Oasis" is Sobering Look at World Water Crisis

  The water crisis is getting worse, whether or not we notice it every day.

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  Can Social Media Really Help Make a Difference for the Environment?

  Social media helps everyone connect - but what about real action?

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  Could "Green Nudges" Be Enough to Push Us in a Better Direction?

  How do we subtly encourage consumers to reuse and recycle?

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  Despite a Shady Reputation, the Gold Buying Industry Beats Mining

  While the consumer message is “Sell your gold for cash, fast!”, the gold buying industry is essentially reusing or recycling this precious metal.

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  A Pleasant Surprise: Super Bowl XLVI Goes Green!

  I was surprised when I realized Super Bowl XLVI's efforts to go green, and I want to know what you're doing too.

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  4 Recycling Resolutions for 2012 From TerraCycle

  I want to compost more, reuse more, and pay more attention to the packaging on products I choose. What about you?

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  New E-Waste Recycling Opportunities

  As new electronics are introduced all the time, the piles of e-waste grow and grow. According to the EPA, the United States on the whole throws out over 2 million tons of e-waste a year, which equals nearly 216 million units.

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  North Face Steps Up To Responsibly Manage an Invisible Waste Stream

  If you're like a lot of people these days, you know that avoiding plastic use is a good idea. You ditch the single serving water bottles for a good steel one. You choose paper rather than plastic. But did

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  Recycling is Boring But Does it Have to be?

  For most people, recycling is boring. It's something they know is a good thing to do. But for many, that's just not enough motivation. I see

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  Are Dream Machines the Answer to America's Recycling Woes?

  As the head of a company focused on reducing waste, I spend a lot of time finding new ways to do it. While we've had increasing success getting people to send us their waste to put to work in new products, the

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  Earth Day is Passe...Or is It?

  Oh lord, here we are again. Earth Day is nearly here. The roar of the trumped up press releases and tenuous links to sustainability is deafening! What started out as an impassioned celebration/day of action for

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  Is Your Recycling Hurting the Planet?

  When is recycling not a good idea? When is it causing more harm then other choices you could make? When you have another option such as green icon Method's refill packs, that are much lighter, and use less packaging than buying

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  Why Are Concentrated Products Such a Flop?

  People like to have a product just work, and don't want to work to make it work. Even if it's a simple matter of running the tap, screwing in a refill cylinder, and off you go, that seems to be too much

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  Is Cash the Only Way to Motivate Responsible Behavior?

  2010 may have been a rocky year in many ways for a lot of us out there, but something amazing happened in the last three months of the year: Public schools in New

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  Upcycle Leftover Valentine's Day Candy Wrappers and Donate to Charity at the Same Time

  Photo credit: Terracycle Valentine's Day is a wonderful excuse for loving partners, friends, parents, kids and teachers to show they care. And like jelly to peanut butter, candy is an integral part of that. But afterwords, there's a little problem:

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  Big Lessons From the SunChips Packaging Fiasco

  2010 was a great year, but something happened that made me angry. But backing up and having a broader look, it makes sense. It goes like this: Sunchips, after more than a year of marketing getting people ready,

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  Terracycle Takes the Trash Inside...Our New Office

  Terracycle has always been a company with a trashy reputation, what with our reusing everything from soda bottles to Ziploc bags. Millions of people have been collecting these things, and we've made them into all manner of