This week, America’s leading beverage companies in partnership with the Ohio Beverage Association, The Recycling Partnership and Solid Waste Authority of Central Ohio (SWACO) announced Pleasant Township and the city of Whitehall as the next Every Bottle Back community recycling project.  The two communities in Central Ohio are the fifth of eleven total projects with committed funding for as part of Every Bottle Back’s inaugural year.

Collectively, Pleasant Township and the city of Whitehall are receiving grants from The Recycling Partnership and SWACO totaling more than $250,000 -- $116,800 of which is supported by the beverage industry.  This targeted investment will provide convenient recycling carts and supporting educational materials to 7,300 households to help improve the collection and recycling of the industry’s 100% recyclable bottles and decrease contamination in the waste stream.

“This critical, regional investment will yield 15.1 million new pounds of materials collected over 10 years – including 592,000 pounds of fully recyclable polyethylene terephthalate (PET) plastic and 227,000 pounds of aluminum,” said Kimberly McConville, executive director of the Ohio Beverage Association. “What’s more, the value of this investment extends beyond Central Ohio. All materials that are collected through the new curbside carts within SWACO’s service area will be recycled and remade into a new product within 300 miles, promoting growth in our local circular economy.”

Launched by the American Beverage Association (ABA) in October of 2019, Every Bottle Back is an integrated and comprehensive initiative by The Coca-Cola Company, Keurig Dr Pepper and PepsiCo to reduce the industry’s use of new plastic by making investments that improve the collection of our plastic bottles so they can be remade into new ones, as intended.  Along with ABA, they are partnering with the leading environmental and sustainability organizations - World Wildlife Fund, Closed Loop Partners and The Recycling Partnership - to reduce the beverage industry’s use of new plastic by ensuring the industry’s 100% recyclable bottles are remade and do not end up as waste in oceans, rivers or landfills. 

“We are thrilled to support this effort to help more Central Ohio residents take advantage of curbside recycling carts, which in turn means collecting more of our valuable, 100% recyclable bottles so they can be remade into new bottles, as intended,” said Katherine Lugar, president and chief executive officer of the American Beverage Association. “Our industry’s investment will help increase local recycling rates and further our industry’s commitment to supporting a circular economy.”

For more information on the investment, check out this article in Waste Today.