In order to achieve a goal of zero waste, companies need access to solutions that solve the challenge of hard-to-recycle waste. Now, Rubicon Global and TerraCycle have joined in a partnership that will address this challenge, the companies say. The partnership will allow them to offer more non-landfill waste solutions for "virtually every waste stream," from the most common recyclables such as mixed recycling and cardboard to stubborn streams like candy wrappers, batteries, disposable coffee cups and cigarette butts, the companies say.
By allowing for the recycling of these types of materials - rather than incinerating or landfilling them - companies can begin driving value by moving waste from a linear system to a circular one, keeping the materials within the economy.
Rubicon and TerraCycle will have access to each other’s customer bases to offer new solutions, fill in the service gaps, and develop new strategies.
The partnership makes sense in part because both companies are focused on evolving the traditional waste industry that is dependent on landfills and "leading the way towards a zero waste future," says Nate Morris, founder and CEO of Rubicon Global.
TerraCycle develops selective collection systems for the recycling of more than 100 specific hard-to-recycle waste streams currently not handled by traditional recycling channels. The company partners with mass market companies, brands, municipalities, and local organizations to implement recycling programs tailored to these post-consumer products and their packaging. Other offerings include recycling programs for post-industrial waste streams, the sale of unique “storied” plastics, and other distinctive waste management and project management services. Rubicon Global works with companies and municipalities to find new efficiencies and cost-savings in their waste streams and to develop new ways to reduce, re-use and recycle waste.
Together, the companies will be able to offer both sets of customers a broader spectrum of non-landfill solutions while "advancing the circular economy, to keep materials functioning at their highest utility, preventing would-be waste from reaching landfills,” says Morris.
In 2016, Procter & Gamble partnered with TerraCycle to create the world’s first shampoo bottle made of 25% recycled beach plastic, sourced from people who collect it from beaches around the world.
