WASHINGTON, D.C. - On Earth Day and every day, American Beverage Association members demonstrate their longstanding commitment to our environment through ongoing efforts to further reduce their environmental impact.

"Being environmentally responsible is a continuous effort for America's beverage industry," said Susan Neely, ABA president and CEO. "ABA member companies are constantly working on new ways to further reduce their environmental impact, and that commitment is reflected in a number of ways, including innovative recycling efforts, lightweighting our packaging, using hybrid vehicles and constructing energy efficient buildings."

The non-alcoholic beverage industry's containers are 100 percent recyclable. As an industry, we are also increasing use of post-consumer recycled materials. We support recycling initiatives in communities across the country, which help bring beverage containers full circle. ABA member companies are expanding their delivery fleets to include hybrid vehicles. They are also building new recycling facilities and LEED-certified buildings, providing green jobs for the construction industry.

Some examples of our member companies' efforts include:

In its Sustainability Review released earlier this year, The Coca-Cola Company noted that it had placed more than 127,000 HFC-free refrigeration systems, bringing total placement to more than 240,000 units as part of the effort to phase out the use of HFCs in all new cold drink equipment as of 2015. It also avoided the use of approximately 85,000 metric tons of primary packaging through system-wide packaging efficiency efforts. To encourage recycling, Coca-Cola Recycling's fleet of Recycling Education Vehicles is active across the country during Earth Week, part of a program to activate more than 600 events in 2011. Coca-Cola Recycling's third and newest Reimagine beverage containers recycling center also opens this week in Garland, Texas. And when it comes to packaging, the company has made available to people across the country its PET PlantBottle - a 100 percent recyclable container that is created using an innovative process that turns sugarcane into a key component of the bottles themselves and can be repeatedly used, recycled and reused through existing systems. Over the past four years, Dr Pepper Snapple Group has invested resources into aligning and integrating its operations to serve its customers and consumers more efficiently and, as a result, conserve fuel and reduce emissions in transporting products. In fact, as part of the company's five-year goals, it will increase product shipments per gallon of fuel used by 20 percent. Dr Pepper Snapple Group also is replacing 60,000 older vending machines and coolers with EPA Energy Star-rated cold drink equipment that consume approximately 30 percent less energy. In addition, through container lightweighting initiatives, the company will conserve more than 60 million pounds of PET by 2015. Nestlé Waters North America recently pledged to have all of its new buildings meet LEED certification as part of its commitment to reduce carbon intensity by 20 percent across its full value chain by 2013. In fact, the company's new corporate headquarters in Stamford, Conn., was designed to achieve LEED silver certification from the U.S. Green Building Council, and includes green features such as a low energy/high efficiency lighting system, low-flow water fixtures in bathrooms, the first Cradle-to-Cradle-certified office chairs, preferred parking spaces for low-emission vehicles and an employee shuttle from the Stamford train station to encourage use of public transportation. Nestlé Waters North America also has achieved a 12 percent total reduction - the equivalent of 260 metric tons - of greenhouse gas emissions since 2005, following the introduction of the company's first-of-its-kind Eco-Shape half-liter bottle. Just last month, PepsiCo announced it had developed the first PET plastic bottle made entirely from plant-based, fully renewable resources including switch grass, pine bark and corn husks. The bottle will go into pilot production next year and will have a significantly reduced carbon footprint. PepsiCo also recently announced that the nation's capitol would be the first city to partner with the company's Dream Machine recycling initiative. The Dream Machine recycling initiative, which is currently running in more than 20 states, was created in partnership with Waste Management and Keep America Beautiful in support of PepsiCo's goal of helping increase beverage container recycling rates to 50 percent by 2018.

 

For more information on the beverage industry's environmental stewardship, visit www.ameribev.org.

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The American Beverage Association is the trade association representing the broad spectrum of companies that manufacture and distribute non-alcoholic beverages in the United States.