WASHINGTON, D.C. – On Earth Day, and every day, the American Beverage Association (ABA) and its member companies demonstrate their longstanding commitment to our environment through ongoing efforts to further reduce their environmental impact.
“The beverage industry’s leadership in environmental sustainability has never been stronger than it is today,” said Susan Neely, ABA president and CEO. “We are leading a race to the top in the consumer products industry through the design of lightweight, more environmentally-friendly packaging. Through our support, we are seeing comprehensive, efficient and effective community recycling programs get off the ground, including one launched this past year through a successful partnership with Florida’s Palm Beach County. Our work is helping in communities throughout America, and as an industry, we have only just begun.”
This past year, the ABA supported a pilot project called “Recycle on the Go” in Palm Beach County, Fla. Parks, beaches and boardwalks were the target locations for placement of 125 recycling bins, which were paired together with waste bins. Promotional activities were carried out by the local jurisdictions, including North Palm Beach, Delray Beach, Lake Park, Wellington and West Palm Beach.
The goals of the project were to:
Measure and improve public space recycling performance;
Create an effective, attractive and sustainable recycling system for beverage containers generated in the public space for each participating jurisdiction;
Provide opportunities for the public to recycle beverage containers and reduce litter; and
Increase public awareness of opportunities to recycle while away from home.
Data compilation is currently underway, but it is expected to show that the project is working to capture a significant amount of recyclable beverage containers and reduce the amount of litter in the locations that bins were placed.
“We care deeply about our industry’s impact on the environment; our operations reflect the priority and longstanding commitment we have to a clean environment,” said Kate Krebs, ABA senior environmental policy advisor. “Most importantly, we are beginning to see some real, positive change. Our companies are engaging with citizens and communities to partner on projects that encourage everyone to do better, do more and do the right thing when it comes to the health of our planet. On Earth Day, it is important to acknowledge these efforts are working.”
COURTESY OF AMERICAN BEVERAGE ASSOCIATION
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