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Tom Szaky is one of the top eco-friendly entrepreneurs of the planet. Tom is the founder of Terracycle, a company which makes consumer products out of waste.

His company collected over 1.5 million cigarette butts in a year and 500 million juice pouches. They make goods out of garbage from backpacks to fence posts and much more.

 


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What will you learn in this interview?

  • What are the challenges faced by Terracycle?
  • How do they promote their company to the world?
  • What were some of the big challenges and roadblocks they encountered?
  • How was Innovation built on a mountain of failure?
  • What were the big turning points of the business?
  • What is his next big project?
  • How does the system of garbage collection and recycling work?
  • Who were Tom’s influences and mentors?
  • What was the lowest point in the business and how did he manage it?
  • What should people do to make an impact to the environment?

FUN FACT:

Tom biked across Canada at 16.

Business Mentors, Tools, Books mentioned:

  • Outsmart Waste
  • Revolution in a Bottle
  • Garbage is Great
  • Harper Collins
  • Ben and Jerry’s
  • Gary Hirshberg
  • Seth Goldman
  • Kevin O’Leary

Background:

Tom Szaky is the CEO and founder of TerraCycle, a company that makes consumer products from waste.

At age four, Szaky left his home in Hungary after the Chernobyl disaster. In 1987, Szaky immigrated to Canada, where he grew up in Toronto. Szaky attended high school at Upper Canada College. He attended college at Princeton University, majoring psychology and economics. He dropped out during his sophomore year to focus on TerraCycle.

In 2006, Tom was named the #1 CEO under thirty” by Inc. magazine in July 2006 for his work in TerraCycle.

Check out TerraCycle website: http://www.terracycle.com/

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