Beverage Companies ‘Recycle Together’ With New Partnership

The American Beverage Association and The Climate Group announced this week that they are joining forces to increase recycling efforts as part of the “Recycle Together” initiative.

The Coca-Cola Company, Pepsi-Cola North America, Nestle Waters North America and Dr. Pepper Snapple Group represent beverage companies that will partake in the program, marking a major U.S. public-private partnership designed to reduce greenhouse gas emissions.

The objective of “Recycle Together” is to identify and promote ways to increase the volume of beverage containers being recycled. “Through Recycle Together we hope to see more beverage containers recycled and we also want to encourage more businesses and industries to partner with us to improve recycling across the country and reduce the impact on the environment,” said Susan Neely, president and CEO of the American Beverage Association.

The American Beverage Association (ABA), with its Full Circle Plan, becomes the founding member of The Climate Group’s “Recycle Together” initiative. The Climate Group is a non-profit organization that assists government and businesses with carbon emission reduction strategies. The Full Circle Plan of the ABA was launched in the summer of 2008 and calls for the beverage industry to:

• Use higher percentages of recycled materials
• Make nearly all of its containers 100 percent recyclable
• Make lighter beverage containers
• Work with communities in order to make recycling easier for consumers

Recycle Together members will collaborate to reach out to community leaders in an effort to increase recycling uptake.

This announcement also comes on the heels of As You Sow’s 2008 Beverage Container Recycling Scorecard and Report, which ranked 23 of the largest beverage companies on their overall recycling efforts.