TerraCycle has been in Australia for 12 years and has notched up 2500 public drop off locations for the products it recycles. Now it’s aiming at the corporate sector for the next tranche of its growth as regulations push the sector to better behaviour.
Industries are showing growing interest in sustainable operations, and TerraCycle, which specialises in hard-to-recycle waste, hopes to play a part in the corporate green transition in the sector.
When we last spoke to TerraCycle in 2021, the company was growing steadily on consumer-facing recycling solutions, rolling out reusable packaging schemes and working to maximise accessibility for recycling difficult items, including cigarette butts and coffee capsules.
Now, the company, which began operations in Australia 12 years ago, has established over 2500 public drop-off locations across the country and is expanding its focus to brands and businesses to meet sustainability, ESG, and regulatory requirements.
In the past few years, corporate environmentalism has transitioned globally from voluntary sustainability initiatives to structured regulatory frameworks, including packaging stewardship, regulated waste management, and extended producer responsibility (EPR), which places responsibility of a product’s lifecycle on the manufacturers, importers, and brand owners of the products rather than taxpayers and local governments.
From TerraCycle’s global position, operating in 21 countries and partnering with over 600 major global brands, the organisation is experiencing growing demand for recycling as industries restructure operations to meet new government standards and achieve greener goals.
Most notable government measures affecting corporate behaviour include France’s Anti-Waste Law for a circular economy, requiring retailers to incorporate reusable packaging by 2027, and the US passing of EPR for packaging laws in seven states over the past three years.
Globally, one of TerraCycle’s most significant growth areas is its commercial division, which includes regulated and universal waste such as batteries, electronics, and lighting. This division serves facilities and industrial clients with large-scale recycling services and recently expanded to acquire its fourth company in the division, a US based regulated and universal waste recycling company, NLR.
In Australia, the EPR model and broader producer responsibility discussions are underway, following suit with the rest of the world. TerraCycle is preparing for the country’s anticipated regulatory implementations by expanding recycling services, introducing scalable recycling pickups that require minimal sorting, and expanding supply chains following Australia’s 2019 export bans on unprocessed, raw recycling materials.
“We’re not quite there yet in Australia with the regulatory changes, but we know that they will be coming,” said Annika Greve, TerraCycle’s general manager for Australia and New Zealand. “A lot of the companies that operate in Australia are also global companies…so they see this in other markets, and we’re preparing for it here.”
Since 2022, TerraCycle has also founded and co-chairs the Japan Business Coalition for a Global Plastics Treaty, part of a group of over 300 businesses advocating for a legally binding UN treaty to end plastic pollution.
As TerraCycle takes on a global role in the corporate green transition, the company is learning from progressive operations elsewhere to integrate new solutions within Australia.
The zero waste bag
Currently, the organisation is preparing to introduce the Zero Waste Bag in July, a paid, mail-back hard-to-recycle solution designed for households and individuals, which was well received in the US and Europe. Despite the organisation’s expansion into corporate processing, the bags’ implementation in Australia represents a continued commitment to consumers and reflects demand for convenient, category-specific recycling solutions, Greve said.
In addition to the Zero Waste Bag, the success of Loop in France, an app that enables consumers to buy brand products in reusable packaging, may also be on the horizon in Australia, especially as greater regulations and producer responsibility reforms are considered.
“There’s a lot of transitional times coming,” Greve said. “We’re excited to see how it continues to grow within Australia.”
