Recycling can improve our physical health.

According to Dr. Amy Myers:

“Recycling reduces the health risks of disease and birth defects associated with landfills and incinerators. It also has a positive impact on our personal health and that of our planet in several other ways.

“It … reduces the need for extracting, refining, and processing … raw materials, which themselves create a lot of air and water pollution. This … reduces greenhouse gas emissions, minimizes climate change, and conserves natural resources — all of which protect the health of our planet and our personal health as well.”

Recycling can be an effective business model; creating wealth from waste by eliminating it.

That’s the tale of the Inc-1000-listed TerraCycle guided by founder Tom Zacky who built his brand on collecting and repurposing hard-to-recycle items like disposable diapers; and not aluminum cans.

The key is a “Smart Bin” sponsored by P&G/Pampers (or whatever the brand is) placed in front of retailers for people to drop off dirty diapers. When they do, the bin weighs it and sends the consumer coupons for Pampers, which drives market share, and keeps diapers out of landfills.

We welcome input on this post.