Every Bottle Back invests in New Jersey borough

The borough of Avalon, New Jersey, which is investing in a new single-stream curbside recycling program, has been selected to receive $91,200 in funding through the beverage industry’s Every Bottle Back initiative, according to a news release from the American Beverage Association, Washington. With the help of this funding, Avalon is upgrading its collection containers from 32-gallon bins to 96-gallon recycling and embarking on an education and outreach program for residents.

"With the upgrade to 96-gallon carts, residents in the borough of Avalon will have increased capacity to recycle more materials," says Keysha Burton, director of Community Infrastructure Projects at The Recycling Partnership says. "It has been great to work with the team at the borough and see their dedication and support to make improvements that will keep valuable recyclables out of our environment and waterways and put them back into the circular economy."

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More than 1,500 residents and approximately 40,000 seasonal visitors to Avalon will benefit from the funding. The total investment is expected to yield more than 3.4 million new pounds of recyclables over the next decade, including 132,600 pounds of polyethylene terephthalate (PET) and 44,200 pounds of aluminum, American Beverage says.

“These investments will help improve local recycling rates, keep plastic out of the environment and help ensure our plastic bottles, which are carefully designed to be 100 percent recyclable, can be remade as intended," American Beverage interim President and CEO Kevin Keane says.

Avalon Business Administrator Scott Wahl says, “Avalon is one of the premiere seashore communities in the United States, and we have an obligation to keep our community clean and [increase] recycling numbers. Avalon is grateful for the support from The Recycling Partnership and American Beverage for helping us advance this proactive, responsive solution to recycling issues in our community.”

To date, Every Bottle Back investments total more than $20 million and are estimated to yield more than 726 million more pounds of PET over 10 years, American Beverage says. The initiative, which is designed to improve plastics circularity, began in late 2019 and is funded by The Coca-Cola Co., Keurig Dr Pepper and PepsiCo, alongside sustainability leaders Closed Loop Partners, The Recycling Partnership and World Wildlife Fund. These efforts through Every Bottle Back support individual sustainability commitments undertaken by The Coca-Cola Co., Keurig Dr Pepper and PepsiCo.