Keep America Beautiful and The Coca-Cola Foundation Fill Need for Recycling Bins in Public Spaces
Last month, The University of Rochester received 15 recycling bins which will be placed at select vending machine locations. The recycling bins are thanks to a grant made possible by Keep America Beautiful and The Coca-Cola Foundation.
The new containers are not like others typically seen on campus. Shaped like giant plastic beverage bottles, the bins are designed specifically to target the collection of bottles and cans (see picture at left). Being placed at vending machine locations where students and others purchase beverages, the containers serve as a visual reminder to recycle the bottle when finished, and offer a convenient way to do so. University Recycling Coordinator, Amy Kadrie hopes that these bins “help increase awareness among beverage consumers and ultimately help to increase the rate at which beverage bottles are recycled.”
“Through our support of the Bin Grant program and our long-standing partnership with Keep America Beautiful, we are helping to bring sustainability to life in local communities across the country,” said Lori George Billingsley, vice president, community relations, Coca-Cola North America Group. “By increasing access to recycling today, we build sustainable communities for the future.”
“One of the main barriers to recycling is convenience. Providing a recycling bin helps communities overcome that barrier,” said Matthew M. McKenna, president and CEO, Keep America Beautiful. “We are truly grateful for Coca-Cola’s support and commitment to recycling, and for its support and commitment of the Bin Grant Program.”
The University of Rochester was one of 156 local government, schools, colleges and other community groups nation-wide to receive a grant. Recipients were chosen by Keep America Beautiful based on a number of criteria including level of need, recycling experience and the ability of applicants to sustain their program in the future. Keep America Beautiful and Coca-Cola partnered with the College and Recycling Coalition (CURC) to offer grants to CURC member campuses. The Bin Grant program awards recycling bins directly to recipients and leverages volume buying discounts. In its seven years of operation, the Bin Grant program has placed more than 29,000 recycling bins in more than 500 communities in 48 states and the District of Columbia. A full list of the spring 2013 Bin Grant recipients and further information about the grant program is available at http://bingrant.org/.
About Keep America Beautiful
Keep America Beautiful is the nation’s leading nonprofit that brings people together to build and sustain vibrant communities. With a network of more than 1,200 affiliate and participating organizations including state recycling organizations, we work with millions of volunteers to take action in their communities. Keep America Beautiful offers solutions that create clean, beautiful public places, reduce waste and increase recycling, generate positive impact on local economies and inspire generations of environmental stewards. Through our programs and public-private partnerships, we engage individuals to take greater responsibility for improving their community’s environment. For more information, visit kab.org.
About The Coca-Cola Foundation
Since its inception, The Coca-Cola Foundation has awarded more than $500 million to support global sustainable community initiatives, including water stewardship, community recycling, active healthy living, and education. For more information about The Coca-Cola Foundation, please go to
www.thecoca-colacompany.com/citizenship/foundation_coke.html
About the College & University Recycling Coalition
The College & University Recycling Coalition (CURC) is a membership-based nonprofit organization made up of campus-based recycling and sustainability professionals seeking to exchange technical knowledge and best practices on recycling and waste reduction programs between institutions of higher learning. Originally formed in 1992, CURC became a technical council of the National Recycling Coalition in 1995 before branching off as an independent organization in 2009. Today, CURC counts nearly 900 members and is led by a board of directors made up of recycling and sustainability program managers from universities across the United States. Among other initiatives, CURC supports collegiate recycling programs through a free webinar series, annual workshops, a quarterly e-newsletter, the development of best-practices manuals and toolkits. For more information, go to www.curc3r.org.
Hi there, I read this article with interest. Being in the vending industry myself, it’s good to see initiatives to control the inevitable trash by products of vending machines.
We are still quite a way behind the US here in the UK, but slowly “getting it”.
I look forward to seeing similar schemes implemented over here.
Craig.