America’s Beverage Companies Improved Recycling for 14 Million Americans in First Five Years of Every Bottle Back

WASHINGTON - On this America Recycles Day, American Beverage is marking the five-year anniversary of Every Bottle Back, a breakthrough and sustained effort to reduce the non-alcoholic beverage industry's use of new plastic and increase circularity for our valuable PET bottles.

"Every Bottle Back shows that no other industry is doing more to reduce plastic use and waste than America's beverage companies," said American Beverage President and CEO Kevin Keane. "Because of our efforts to improve circularity, Americans are seeing more 100% recycled plastic bottles* on beverage shelves than ever before. But our work is far from over. We're committed to real solutions-across the life cycle of our product-to protect the environment for generations to come."

Since 2019, America's beverage companies have invested $28.5 million to make recycling more accessible and convenient for more than 14 million Americans in 49 communities nationwide. This has resulted in:

• Keeping a projected 705 million pounds of PET - the equivalent of 14.1 billion plastic bottles - out of landfills and the environment over the next decade.
• Increasing the projected recycling over the next decade of nearly 43 million pounds of aluminum.
• Providing 985,000 new, often upgraded curbside recycling carts to residents free of charge.
• Galvanizing an additional $170 million in funds for projects from additional investors, more than five times the amount American Beverage has invested directly in the communities funded.

American Beverage announced three new investments this week in Cook County, Ill., Livonia, Mich. and Polk County, Wis.

"Five years in, Every Bottle Back has delivered needed investments in recycling access, education and infrastructure so more of our valuable containers can be collected and remade as intended," Keane added.

Every Bottle Back is supported by environmental and sustainability leaders across the country including: Closed Loop Partners, the leading investment firm at the forefront of building the circular economy and recycling infrastructure in the U.S.; The Recycling Partnership, a purpose-driven organization committed to building a better recycling system; and World Wildlife Fund (WWF), the world's leading conservation organization, delivering innovative solutions that protect communities, wildlife and the places in which they live.

"Every Bottle Back exemplifies our shared commitment of delivering practical, lasting solutions to tackle the plastic pollution crisis," said Sheila Bonini, senior vice president of private sector engagement for WWF. "The progress made through Every Bottle Back sets a powerful benchmark for steps taken to address environmental challenges, which we will continue to build on for years to come."

The latest WWF ReSource report shows America's beverage companies are reducing our plastic footprint. Specifically, the amount of recycled plastic in beverage bottles has nearly tripled since 2018 and nearly two out of three bottles included recycled plastic.

"Closed Loop Partners is proud to work alongside many of America's beverage companies to invest in modernizing and improving community recycling nationwide. Our collaborative work over the last five years helps to ensure that valuable recyclables, like plastic bottles and aluminum cans, are remade instead of going to waste," said Ron Gonen, founder & CEO of Closed Loop Partners. "This collaborative work has already had a significant impact on communities nationwide, and we look forward to building on the successes of Every Bottle Back."

The progress made through Every Bottle Back demonstrates the power and necessity of collaboration between industry, environmental and sustainability groups, community leaders and policymakers to make recycling systems more accessible and efficient.

"Public-private partnerships like Every Bottle Back are essential to strengthening the recycling system," said Keefe Harrison, CEO of The Recycling Partnership. "Every Bottle Back's long-term, sustained investments in the recycling system have enabled us to improve access to recycling, capturing hundreds of millions of new pounds of quality recyclables across multiple materials. Together, we're building a better recycling system for all."

Announced in 2019, the Every Bottle Back initiative unites America's beverage companies to:

• Partner with the largest environmental, non-governmental organization that is widely recognized as the authoritative voice on issues impacting the environment - World Wildlife Fund - to help our industry measure its plastic footprint reduction in the United States.
• Commit to recovering more of our plastic bottles so they can be remade into new bottles by leveraging the equivalent of nearly a half-billion dollars with The Recycling Partnership and Closed Loop Partners.
• Leverage our packaging by adding uniform reminders to consumers that we are carefully designing our bottles to be 100% recyclable, including the caps.
• Launch a public awareness campaign to inspire confidence and remind consumers that our plastic bottles are made to be remade.

*excluding the cap and label

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