Mars Inc., Terracycle Partner for Waste Reduction Program - Waco Tribune
“TerraCycle will repurpose waste packaging from Mars’s U.S. operations into products ranging from cell phone holders and laptop sleeves to messenger bags, significantly reducing the amount of waste sent to landfills. Mars will also sponsor TerraCycle ‘Brigade programs,’ in which organizations can raise money by collecting used packaging from participating brands and sending it to TerraCycle.”
While I’m happy for refurbished and modified “waste” into functionally valuable items from Terracycle, the question I absolutely must ask is “What about product design?” Are the items desirable? To what degree are the original manufacturer’s graphical branding elements visible in the new product? Terracycle’s Tom Szaky is proudly declaring his company making valuable products from “branded waste”. Ultimately what matters to a business is that products sell well, and that they’re reasonable socially and environmentally responsible.
One of my concerns in sustainable product development for durable goods (clothes, furniture, accessories, appliances, other), is that the products are and will remain desirable for a significant amount of time. It’s this role that sustainable fashion means to occupy, so that even if a product is no longer desirable to the original owner, someone can take pleasure in using it. That way we’re diverting more from landfill and other cradle-to-grave scenarios.
What do YOU think?
