The theme of Earth Day 2023 – “Invest In Our Planet” – asks us all to take actions to protect our environment and its natural resources. The beverage industry is doing just that by investing our ingenuity, expertise and forming strong community partnerships to help build a sustainable future. 

From Massachusetts to Arizona, Alabama to Wisconsin, and communities of all sizes in between, we are working with environmental groups and community leaders to reduce our plastic footprint and create a circular economy for our 100% recyclable bottles and cans.

The Coca-Cola Company, Keurig Dr Pepper and PepsiCo have joined to leverage the equivalent of $400 million to make recycling more effective and to help keep valuable recyclable materials from being wasted in landfills or ending up in the environment. This initiative, known as Every Bottle Back, is modernizing recycling infrastructure to recycle more materials, and funding public information campaigns to help people recycle better. 

An example of this in action is in Broken Arrow, Okla., where residents received new high-capacity curbside recycling carts and educational materials about best recycling practices. This investment is projected to yield 124 million new pounds of recyclable materials over the next 10 years. To date, Every Bottle Back has commitments to 31 communities to help improve the sorting, processing and collection of recyclable materials, including our 100% recyclable bottles and cans.

Our companies are also working to conserve water and increase water access. For example, our members are finding innovative ways to repurpose syrup drums used during soft drink production, using them to collect rain and stormwater run-off. The water collected is used for landscaping, gardening, washing cars and more. Additionally, in communities across the country we are partnering with industry, nonprofit and governmental organizations to protect water resources in our supply chain, which helps to increase water quantity and quality.   

We all have a role to play to protect and invest in our planet. By working together with community leaders, environmental organizations and businesses we can make meaningful investments to protect our planet today and for generations to come.