Kenosha, WI – America’s leading beverage companies and their environmental and sustainability partners announced today that the city of Kenosha is the latest locale selected for investment under Every Bottle Back, a breakthrough initiative to improve the collection and recycling of plastic bottles. 

The $520,000 investment will help more than 32,000 households convert from an outdated plastic bag recycling system to 96-gallon, curbside recycling carts. This modernization will support the automation of recycling collection so that carts will be lifted and dumped into trucks via an automated arm, upgrading from the city’s current labor intensive, manual collection of bags. 

Currently, Kenosha’s recyclable materials are sent to a materials recovery facility (MRF) that does not accept bagged recyclables, resulting in unnecessary landfilling of valuable materials, including recyclable plastic bottles. Over the next 10 years, this investment is estimated to yield 54 million pounds of new recyclables, including 2.1 million new pounds of polyethylene terephthalate (PET). 

Launched last October by the American Beverage Association (ABA), Every Bottle Back is an unprecedented initiative to reduce the beverage industry’s plastic footprint that brings together The Coca-Cola Company, Keurig Dr Pepper and PepsiCo with leading environmental and sustainability organizations - World Wildlife Fund, Closed Loop Partners and The Recycling Partnership. Together, they will support the circular plastics economy by reinforcing to consumers the value of 100% recyclable plastic bottles, ensuring they don’t end up as waste in oceans, rivers or landfills.

“America’s leading beverage companies launched Every Bottle Back last year to reduce our plastic footprint, marshalling the equivalent of nearly a half-billion dollars to educate consumers nationwide and improve our recycling system with modern technology and infrastructure,” said Katherine Lugar, ABA president and CEO.  “We are thrilled to partner with the city of Kenosha and The Recycling Partnership on this exciting investment.  Together, we’ll work towards our shared goal of creating a truly circular economy in which our beverage bottles are collected, recycled and remade into new bottles, as intended, meaning less new plastic in our environment.” 

“This investment will preserve our environment and ensure the Kenosha Area remains a top, year-round destination by ensuring that valuable and recyclable materials, like our plastic beverage bottles, don’t end up as litter on the shoreline or as waste in landfills,” said Kelly McDowell of the Wisconsin Beverage Association. “The Wisconsin Beverage Association and its members are eager to work alongside the city of Kenosha and The Recycling Partnership to make recycling more accessible and convenient for consumers.”

“The Recycling Partnership is excited to partner with ABA and the city of Kenosha to move residents from placing their recycling in bags to large, lidded carts in order to collect even more valuable recyclables,” said Keefe Harrison, founder and chief executive officer of The Recycling Partnership. “When we know what we can and can’t recycle, we keep recyclables out of landfills and waterways, decrease greenhouse gases, support local jobs and reduce the need to create more products out of virgin materials.”

The Every Bottle Back initiative will measure industry progress in reducing the use of new plastic by increasing the amount of plastic that is collected and remade into new bottles. It is also investing in key regions of the U.S. to improve the quality and availability of recycled plastic and, in concert, has launched a public awareness campaign to remind consumers that our bottles are 100% recyclable and if recycled properly will be remade into new bottles. For a more detailed overview about the national components, click here.

To learn about recycling in Kenosha, click here. 

These efforts support individual sustainability commitments  undertaken by The Coca-Cola Company, Keurig Dr Pepper and PepsiCo. 

Learn more about the Every Bottle Back initiative at www.EveryBottleBack.org. 

To schedule an interview, please contact the ABA media office at media@ameribev.org. 

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To view this press release in PDF form, click here.