Report Faults Beverage Companies for Weak Container Recycling Levels

A study recently released by a two groups criticizes beverage companies for failing to nurture container recycling. The report, Waste and Opportunity: U.S. Beverage Container Recycling Scorecard and Report, graded 12 leaving beverage companies on their recycling successes.

The author of the report, Nishita Bakshi, research director for As You Sow, said that while both Coca-Cola and Pepsi Cola had taken some positive steps with their use of 10 percent recycled content in plastic bottles. Also, Bakshi recognized the two beverage companies for promising to work with competitors toward setting beverage content recovery goals. However, "most other companies have done little to nothing to significantly improve recycling rates."

The Container Recycling Institute also was involved in the report.

The report evaluated 12 leading beverage companies including the top five carbonated soft drink manufacturers, Coca-Cola Co, Pepsi Cola North America, Cadbury Schweppes, Cott Corp. and National Beverage, the top three bottled water manufacturers, PepsiCo, Coca-Cola and Nestlé Waters North America, and the top three beer companies, Anheuser-Busch, Miller Brewing and Coors Brewing, as well as New Belgium Breweries, Polar Beverages, and Starbucks.

"There has been insufficient action by the beverage industry to significantly increase beverage container recovery," said Conrad MacKerron, director of the group’s Corporate Social Responsibility Program. "Bottled water sales have grown nearly 700 percent in the last eight years, yet stand-alone water companies have shown no leadership in using recycled content or improving recycling rates."

"Beverage sales jumped five-fold in the last 30 years while container recycling rates have dropped from 53 percent in 1992 to 34 percent in 2004," said Patricia Franklin, executive director of Container Recycling Institute. "Each year we are producing more beverages but recycling a smaller portion of those containers." CRI partnered with As You Sow in producing the report.

The report makes five recommendations for beverage companies to reduce environmental impact: use higher levels of recycled content in their bottles; set a national beverage container recovery goal, support public policies and voluntary measures that increase recycling; develop design innovations leading to less packaging material; and publicly report on their progress to stakeholders. The report can be found online at www.asyousow.org/publications/scorecard.pdf and www.containerrecycling.org/publications/scorecard.htm.