Coca-Cola has received the highest grade in a beverage container recycling report released by As You Sow, a San Francisco-based group that identifies itself as a "corporate responsibility watchdog.”
As you Sow says it evaluated the recycling practices of 23 large beverage companies in the U.S. The highest grade assigned to any of them was the “C” received by Coca-Cola, followed by Anheuser Busch, Pepsi Co. and Nestle Waters, companies that received C minuses.
The study, entitled “Waste and Opportunity: U.S. Beverage Container Recycling Scorecard and Report,” is based on original research that evaluated the beverage companies based on four criteria:
- Source Reduction (reducing the use of virgin packaging materials)
- Use of Recycled Content
- Beverage Container Recycling (supporting and investing in legislative policies that increase beverage container recovery and recycling)
- Transparency (compiling and offering information on goals and commitments made on container recycling, including making such information accessible through company Web sites).
The 23 companies evaluated in the report represent 74 percent of the U.S. carbonated soft drink market, more than 60 percent of the U.S. bottled water market and nearly half of the U.S. beer industry, according to As You Sow.
The companies evaluated (and the grades they received) were: Coca-Cola (C), Anheuser Busch (C minus), Pepsi Co. (C minus), Nestle Waters NA (C minus), Red Bull (D plus), Fiji Water (D), Honest Tea (D minus); and the following companies that all received failing grades by As You Sow’s criteria: Dr. Pepper/Snapple, Miller Brewing Co., Coors Brewing Co., Starbucks, Cott, National Beverage, Hansens, Crystal Geyser, Adirondack, Arizona, Boston Beer, DS Waters, Jones Soda, Monarch Beverage, New Belgium Beer and Polar Beverage. (Please see detailed list of grades below.)
“Despite some impressive progress, most beverage companies continue to fail basic criteria for dealing with the environmental implications of their packaging,” says Amy Galland, research director at As You Sow and author of the study. More than 200 billion beverage containers are sold in the U.S. each year, but over 130 billion of those are still sent to landfills and incinerated, representing a huge waste of natural resources, says Galland.
Those wishing to read the report can find it on the Web at www.asyousow.org.