From the ground up: Student entrepreneurs create new compost

University students are responsible for approximately four tons of food waste daily.

While most of the waste goes to a pig farm, Tom Szaky '05 and his company Terracycle have a better idea for its use.

Terracycle recently signed a contract through which it will receive 130 tons of food waste daily from clients throughout northern New Jersey, including Princeton.

Founded 14 months ago, Terracycle proposes a new method of composting food waste into soil, one which Szaky says is both extremely effective and environmentally friendly.

Szaky's process, the result of collaboration with Jon Beyer '05 at the beginning of their freshman year, seeks to recreate the natural process of composting that occurs in the top six inches of the forest floor.

Terracycle's approach uses technology to replicate and enhance the natural process of recycling waste — particularly through the use of red worms.

Szaky emphasized that this method has many positive results. He said the process uses much less land — 300 square feet as opposed to the approximately 10 acres typically used by composting companies. In addition, there is no odor so it can be run in the middle of a populous city.

Beyer added that the process is much less labor-intensive.

"Our system greatly reduces the labor required per ton of waste processed," Beyer wrote in an email.

The resulting soil is also superior to other brands on the market, Szaky said. Most store-bought soil has had chemicals added, he said. Consequently, when it rains, a runoff results, decreasing the chemicals' effects on plants and damaging river life.

"[The process] is the way it should happen," Szaky said. "It's the way you'd see it happening if you went to the forest."

In addition, Szaky noted the important implications his process may have for landfills.

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"For every 20 pounds of soil, you're saving 40 pounds of waste from a landfill," he said. "That's not something anyone else can really say."

Terracycle is attempting to raise $2 million to build a factory in New Jersey, which will allow it to compost about 400 times as much waste as it does currently.

Szaky plans to take the next semester off from school to dedicate his time to this project. The company has 11 employees, all of whom are University students and alumni.

Hilary Burt '03 plans to take over the communications and public relations aspect of the company full-time after graduation. She first became involved over the summer after seeing the launch of Szaky and Beyer's prototype.

"This is such an amazing experience for me," Burt said. "The amount I have learned and will learn will be amazing."

Beyer, Burt and Szaky all expressed a desire for Terracycle to make a significant impact on the environment.

"I'd like to be making a noticeable difference in the quantity of waste going into landfills," Beyer said. "I think that sooner or later, there will need to be an alternative to landfills, and there currently isn't anything out there really."