Tupperware, National Parks celebrate diversion accomplishments

Tupperware Brands Foundation, the Orlando, Florida-based nonprofit arm of Tupperware Brands Corp., and the National Park Foundation (NPF), Atlanta, have announced the results to date of their multiyear partnership to reduce waste throughout the National Parks.

Since partnering with the NPF’s Resilience & Sustainability Program in October 2020, Tupperware has supported efforts to reduce food and single-use plastic waste, including recycling and composting infrastructure, educational signage and the installation of water bottle refill stations.

To date, the NPF has reported that Tupperware’s support has funded the completion of 44 water refill stations across seven national parks, helping to divert approximately 10 million single-use plastic bottles from landfills annually.

Funding from this year will support the installation of 26 water bottle refill stations in 2023, with 22 installations planned for National Mall and Memorial Parks alone and four at Wolf Trap National Park for the Performing Arts. Once completed, these installations are projected to divert an additional 1 million single-use plastic bottles from ending up in landfills, bringing the total estimate of single-use plastic bottles annually diverted from landfills to nearly 11 million, according to NPF.

Tupperware has supported efforts to enhance environmental stewardship and make national parks more resilient and sustainable for the more than 300 million annual visitors. Those efforts include:  

• Installing and improving water bottle refill stations. At Castillo de San Marcos National Monument, the park reported more than 47,000 water bottles or about 1,982 pounds of plastic waste were eliminated because of the refill station.
• Funding composting infrastructure and innovative programs to reduce landfill waste in parks, such as Klondike Gold Rush National Historical Park, whose compost collection pilot program has diverted bathroom paper towel waste from landfills by close to 80 percent since 2020.
• Enhancing and increasing infrastructure and educational resources to help visitors properly dispose of trash, recycling and food waste at Wrangell-St. Elias National Park and Preserve and Yellowstone National Park.

“We value our partnership with the National Park Foundation tremendously, and it’s incredible to see the tangible results thus far of our collective efforts to enable a more sustainable experience for current and future park-goers, and just as importantly, our planet and these beautiful, treasured spaces—the national parks,” Tupperware Brands CEO and President Miguel Fernandez says.

The increasing number of visitors to the National Parks has placed a strain on the waste and recycling infrastructure. In one year alone, parks system manages nearly 80 million pounds of waste.

“The partnership between the National Park Foundation and Tupperware is helping to meet a growing demand for more sustainable options for parks and park visitors,” NPF Chief Program Officer Lise Aangreenbrug says. “Together, we are building a strong foundation for long-term sustainability solutions that reduce waste in national parks and benefit us all.”