CNBC’s Highlights from CNBC’s “Trash Inc., The Secret Life of Garbage” and commentary from RecycleMatch co-founder, Chad Farrell. Recently, many of our friends have watched Trash Inc on CNBC and have told me they were astounded by the numbers reported by the news entertainment program. That shock was exactly what I felt when my business partner, Brooke Farrell came to me with the spark of an idea that using a web based marketplace for recyclables and waste was an idea whose time had come. Since I did not know much about the waste and trash industry I was a bit skeptical. However, as I researched both the market and the problem/opportunity, I was blown away by the massive size of the industry. I was equally impressed by the giant green wave that was pushing companies to be more environmentally conscious. Last night, I had the chance to watch “Trash Inc: The Secret Life of Garbage” on one of my favorite channels, CNBC.
And although we are been very successful in creating our marketplace over the past year, it was validating to see the focus on trash and how it can be used as a resource. Here are my favorite quotes from the show last night:
- Garbage is being reborn in ways you can’t imagine
- Where some see a problem, others see dollar signs
- From Waste Management – we can sell the waste we pickup every day for $10 Billion, we realized there is value in the materials
- 80% of what we throw away is recyclable but only 28% is getting recycled
- The largest landfill in the US is the size of 2000 football fields!
- In a landfill – “trash means cash”
- Landfills are just a band-aid on a broken system
- Companies are trying to figure out how to take trash out of the waste stream and put it into the revenue stream
- 70% of the recycled bottles for a textile manufacturer’s production line is acquired from outside the United States
I think my favorite quote was that the trash industry is a “21st Century Goldmine”! (RecycleMatch has your picks and shovels)
The Trash Inc. documentary did a great job showing people just how big the problem of waste is in America, in China, and in our oceans. Trash is everywhere, and it’s a big business. It’s also a big opportunity. There is lost value in the waste that companies put into landfills, and RecycleMatch is making it easier to help companies turn waste into a resource.