Ernie Simpson | Source | Global Vice President of Research & Development at TerraCycle

TerraCycle does not accept the idea of waste. All materials are considered waste and can be separated and characterized. After characterization, we develop the necessary processing methods to convert each item into usable feedstock. Other industries then use the feedstocks to create new items. The entire process drives the circular economy, and none of the materials will go to landfills or waste-to-energy conversion. If we exhaust all our processing capabilities and do not get to an ‘elegant solution,’ we may do waste to energy, but rarely.