WASHINGTON, D.C. – America’s leading non-alcoholic beverage companies are marking America Recycles Day by announcing the results of an industry-wide survey that shows they are now recycling or reusing 94 percent of the waste produced by their 160 company-owned production facilities in the United States.

The reuse innovations put in place by The Coca-Cola Company, Dr Pepper Snapple Group and PepsiCo have resulted in the diversion of 338,000 tons of waste from landfills, and the industry continues efforts to reduce its footprint even further.

“Environmental sustainability is ingrained in every aspect of America’s non-alcoholic beverage industry,” said Susan Neely, American Beverage Association (ABA) president and CEO. “From the design of our packaging to water use to the way we transport our products to market, we are leading the way on environmental stewardship. A sharp focus on ensuring our waste is reused or recycled rather than tossed away to a landfill reflects our industry’s long-standing commitment to the planet.”

The beverage industry is also making it easier and more convenient for consumers to be environmentally-friendly. America’s leading beverage companies are producing 100 percent recyclable aluminum, plastic and glass beverage containers – even the plastic caps can be recycled. As a result, 40 percent of aluminum, plastic and glass containers are recycled in the United States, up nine percentage points in the last seven years.

Other environmental initiatives of the beverage industry include:

Cutting down on energy and materials usage by making product packaging lighter, and reusing transportation packaging, Reducing water usage by incorporating state-of-the-art water treatment technology and by reusing process water from manufacturing facilities, Minimizing energy usage and fleet emissions by employing hybrid trucks and relying on highly efficient, centralized production and distribution systems for products, Using ‘green’ technology – such as solar panels; high-efficiency boilers; and cogeneration – at bottling plants, and Saving energy usage through high efficiency refrigeration technology.

To learn more about how the beverage industry is working to protect the environment, visit http://innovationnaturally.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.  For more information on ABA, please visit the association’s Web site at www.ameribev.org or call the ABA communications team at (202) 463-6770.