TerraCycle

TerraCycle is a private U.S. small business headquartered in Trenton, New Jersey. It makes consumer products from pre-consumer and post-consumer waste ("upcycling") and by reusing other waste materials. The company is known for its environmentally-friendly aspects.

History

2001–03: Founding and investments

TerraCycle was founded by Tom Szaky and Jon Beyer in the fall of 2001. In 2002, the company bought a $20,000 continuous flow composting system invented by Harry Windle of Gainesville, Florida, to take organic waste and have it processed by worms into fertilizer. The first waste used came from the dining halls of Princeton University.

Initial funding came from family and friends of Tom Szaky and Jon Beyer as well as awards from business plan contests. TerraCycle received media attention when it turned down a one million dollar venture investment opportunity awarded through the Carrot Capital Business Plan because the investors planned to change TerraCycle's business model. Further funding came from private investors. The first investor was Suman Sinha, who gave $2,000 in exchange for 1% of the company stock.

TerraCycle (recumbent cycling)

TerraCycle, Inc. is a designer and manufacturer of recumbent bicycle parts based in Portland, Oregon in the United States. The TerraCycle brand has gained international recognition, especially for its idlers and Cargo Monster load-carrying extensions.

History

Background

In 1996, Pat Franz began making custom-fitted recumbent bicycles in a small office in Portland, Oregon. Recumbent cycling is a small market, so in order to make the bicycles, many of the parts had to be hand-crafted. Before long, other recumbent bicycle manufacturers noted TerraCycle's parts and began asking to have parts made for their own recumbent cycles. TerraCycle shifted its efforts from building whole recumbent bicycles to manufacturing recumbent cycling parts and has since gained international recognition in the recumbent cycling community. Today, TerraCycle parts can be found in stores in North America, Europe, Australia, Hong Kong, Japan, Korea and Taiwan and around the world online.