Ecycler
Encyclopedia
ecycler is an environmental technology
company and brand
that provides a marketplace for discarders and collectors of recyclable waste in areas where no organized pickup is available.
but want to have their recyclables picked up when and where they desire. If a collector of recyclables is not yet available in an area, the people discarding recyclables may post their materials on a bulletin board-an area ecycler calls the "recycling exchange." New or existing collectors may view materials listed on the exchange and then contact the discarder for a pick-up.
The site is driven by individual collectors who establish their own ecycler recycling programs. Collectors can create and market their own ecycler recycling programs by downloading posters generated by ecycler.com and then posting them in public places. Ecycler provides personalized business cards to collectors making them "independent collectors" and allowing them to share in the use of the ecycler name in setting up their recycling programs in their community.
Ecycler encourages people to discard their recyclables for free; however, discarders can request a portion of the proceeds from the collector. Collectors can take the recyclables to a redemption center or reverse vending machine
and make either 100% profit or they can make a 60% profit by giving 40% to the person from whom they collected the recyclables. It is up to the person discarding the recyclables whether or not they want to simply give them away or earn some money themselves.
According to filterforgood.com, people who want to sign up as either discarders or collectors should know whether they live in a bottle-bill state. A “bottle bill,” also known as a “container deposit law" requires a minimum refundable deposit on beer, soft drink and other beverage containers in order to ensure a high rate of recycling or reuse.
The deposit-refund system was created by the beverage industry as a way to guarantee the return of their glass bottles to be washed, refilled and resold, filterforgood.com explains.
According to treehugger.com, the environmental benefit of ecycler might be reduced if it creates additional vehicle traffic: "While this is a great system to help get recyclables to recycling facilities in areas where there isn't curbside pickup provided by the city, we are still curious about the impact of having people most likely driving around in cars and pickup trucks collecting the recyclables and driving to centers to turn them in." Discarders can track the carbon credits on the site by listing how many recyclables they have given away through ecycler.com and on their own. Ecycler also allows collectors and discarders to rate their experiences with one another.
For non-traditional materials (tennis balls, wine bottle corks, eyeglasses, et al.) ecycler offers the opportunity to recycle these items that are not usually recyclable via local recycling centers.
2009. Although, the company is based in Lake Forest, Illinois
, ecycler went live with its Canada specific site in April 2010.
Environmental technology
Environmental technology or green technology or clean technology is the application of one or more of environmental science, green chemistry, environmental monitoring and electronic devices to monitor, model and conserve the natural environment and resources, and to curb the negative impacts of...
company and brand
Brand
The American Marketing Association defines a brand as a "Name, term, design, symbol, or any other feature that identifies one seller's good or service as distinct from those of other sellers."...
that provides a marketplace for discarders and collectors of recyclable waste in areas where no organized pickup is available.
Profile
The company's web site can also be used by households, institutions or businesses that do have curb-side recyclingRecycling
Recycling is processing used materials into new products to prevent waste of potentially useful materials, reduce the consumption of fresh raw materials, reduce energy usage, reduce air pollution and water pollution by reducing the need for "conventional" waste disposal, and lower greenhouse...
but want to have their recyclables picked up when and where they desire. If a collector of recyclables is not yet available in an area, the people discarding recyclables may post their materials on a bulletin board-an area ecycler calls the "recycling exchange." New or existing collectors may view materials listed on the exchange and then contact the discarder for a pick-up.
The site is driven by individual collectors who establish their own ecycler recycling programs. Collectors can create and market their own ecycler recycling programs by downloading posters generated by ecycler.com and then posting them in public places. Ecycler provides personalized business cards to collectors making them "independent collectors" and allowing them to share in the use of the ecycler name in setting up their recycling programs in their community.
Ecycler encourages people to discard their recyclables for free; however, discarders can request a portion of the proceeds from the collector. Collectors can take the recyclables to a redemption center or reverse vending machine
Reverse vending machine
A reverse vending machine is a device that accepts used beverage containers and returns money to the user . The machines are popular in places that have mandatory recycling laws or container deposit legislation. In some places, bottlers paid funds into a centralized pool to be dispersed to people...
and make either 100% profit or they can make a 60% profit by giving 40% to the person from whom they collected the recyclables. It is up to the person discarding the recyclables whether or not they want to simply give them away or earn some money themselves.
According to filterforgood.com, people who want to sign up as either discarders or collectors should know whether they live in a bottle-bill state. A “bottle bill,” also known as a “container deposit law" requires a minimum refundable deposit on beer, soft drink and other beverage containers in order to ensure a high rate of recycling or reuse.
The deposit-refund system was created by the beverage industry as a way to guarantee the return of their glass bottles to be washed, refilled and resold, filterforgood.com explains.
According to treehugger.com, the environmental benefit of ecycler might be reduced if it creates additional vehicle traffic: "While this is a great system to help get recyclables to recycling facilities in areas where there isn't curbside pickup provided by the city, we are still curious about the impact of having people most likely driving around in cars and pickup trucks collecting the recyclables and driving to centers to turn them in." Discarders can track the carbon credits on the site by listing how many recyclables they have given away through ecycler.com and on their own. Ecycler also allows collectors and discarders to rate their experiences with one another.
For non-traditional materials (tennis balls, wine bottle corks, eyeglasses, et al.) ecycler offers the opportunity to recycle these items that are not usually recyclable via local recycling centers.
History
The company was founded in February 2009 and launched at TechCrunch50TechCrunch50
TechCrunch50 was a conference held at the Design Center Concourse in San Francisco, California on September 14-15, 2009, hosted by TechCrunch and Jason Calacanis. Its aim was to find the best Web 2.0 start-ups and launch them in front of the industry's most influential venture capitalists,...
2009. Although, the company is based in Lake Forest, Illinois
Lake Forest, Illinois
Lake Forest is an affluent city located in Lake County, Illinois, United States. The city is south of Waukegan along the shore of Lake Michigan, and is a part of the Chicago metropolitan area and the North Shore. Lake Forest was founded around Lake Forest College and was laid out as a town in...
, ecycler went live with its Canada specific site in April 2010.
Press and awards
- 2011 Included in Inc. Magazine's 20 Awesome Facebook Fan Pages
- 2011 Named as one of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce 25 Free Enterprise Honorees for the "DREAM BIG Small Business of the Year Award"
- 2011 Wins the Fairfield Small Business Challenge
- 2010 Kim Komando Cool Site of the Day
- 2010 Nominated for the Chicago Innovation AwardsChicago Innovation AwardsThe Chicago Innovation Awards was created by the Chicago Sun-Times and Kuczmarski & Associates in 2002. Each year the Awards recognize 10 Chicago area businesses, nonprofits, and government organizations that develop the year’s most innovative new products and services.-2010:The 2010 Chicago...
- 2010 One of Ten finalist in the Fairfield Small Business Challenge