jason warrington boosting positive corporate environmental and social impact at terracycle
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About Terracycle
Founded in 2005 by Princetonian Tom Szaky
Headquartered in Trenton, NJ with international offices in 14 countries
Mission: Eliminate the idea of waste by creating national recycling systems for previously non-recyclable and hard to recycle materials.
My Internship
Worked in the Executive Department
Supervised by CAO, Richard Perl
Reported to both Richard Perl and CEO, Tom Szaky
Projects: Insurance, Waste Portfolios, Points Program
Project 1: Waste Portfolio
Goal: Identify waste policies and infrastructure for dealing with waste in a given country to see how TerraCycle could operate within the system.
Purpose: Currently, not a lot of competition in this field. TerraCycle trying to capture as much of the international market as possible.
What I did: Research! Made a document summarizing my findings.
Project 2: Points Program
Goal: Institute new points program in as many countries as possible.
Purpose: TerraCycle aims to move away from just monetary reward for trash collection. Want to boost social/environmental impact that the company and customers have. Hope to boost collections.
What I did: Worked with country leads, Helped them tailor the presentations for perspective charities, Negotiated charity gifts, Created contracts and acted as a liaison between international and US offices, Put the gifts on the respective sites.
What I Learned
Interviewing/communication skills
Research synthesis/presentation skills
Legal aspects of doing business (ex. dealing with contracts)
How to coach/manage/motivate people
Website design (HTML)
Final Thoughts
Working at TerraCycle was a great experience.
Recommend it to those who are looking to get real world business experience.
This internship helped solidify my interest in pursuing a “green” career in the future.