Tom Szaky (born 14 January 1982) is the CEO and founder of TerraCycle, a private, US-based business headquartered in Trenton, New Jersey that turns non-recyclable pre-consumer and post-consumer waste into raw material to be used in new products.

[7] According to Szaky, he became fascinated with the concept of recycling after seeing the “astounding” things people threw in the trash, adding that the first television set he ever saw was being thrown in the garbage.

This experience proved formative as he credits it with helping him understand that waste was a “modern idea.” [7] He started to attend college at Princeton University, originally intending to major in psychology and economics.

[13][14] Armed with initial capital funding generated through family, friends and monetary awards earned via additional business plan contests,[15][16] Szaky purchased a $20,000 continuous flow composting system that converted organic waste from the dining halls of Princeton University[12] into fertilizer through the use of worms.

Since the company's inception, Szaky and TerraCycle designed the world's first recycling processes for cigarette butts, soiled diapers, and chewing gum.

[27] At the 2019 World Economic Forum's annual meeting in Davos, Switzerland, Szaky announced Loop, a global circular shopping platform that utilizes durable containers that can be reused, recycled, or both.