Flavored beverages producer Dr Pepper Snapple (DPS) is joining the Closed Loop Fund to increase beverage container recycling rate in the US to 60% by 2030.
The company is investing $5m in the social impact fund, which was set up in 2014 to increase the recycling of products and packaging by investing $100m via zero-interest loans to cities and below market loans to companies for recycling infrastructure over the next 10 years.
In addition to Dr Pepper Snapple, 3M, Coca-Cola, ColgatePalmolive, Goldman Sachs, Johnson & Johnson Family of Consumer Companies, Keurig Green Mountain, PepsiCo and the PepsiCo Foundation, Procter & Gamble, Unilever, Walmart and the Walmart Foundation are also supporting the Closed Loop Fund.
The Closed Loop Fund aims to create more than 20,000 local jobs in the US while diverting more than 20 million cumulative tons of waste from landfills by 2025.
DPS is also extending its partnership with Keep America Beautiful for the next three years to continue to place recycling bins in public parks by investing $1m.
Since its launch in 2013, the Dr Pepper Snapple Group/Keep America Beautiful Park Recycling Bin Grant partnership has supplied more than 2,500 recycling bins.
Under the new agreement, DPS and Keep America Beautiful will add 4,000 more bins.
Dr Pepper Snapple government affairs and sustainability director Kelly Smith said: "Making a meaningful and sustainable reduction in the amount of plastic and other recyclable material in the waste stream requires convenient options for consumers to recycle as well as the capacity to process those materials at the community level.
"Our investment in the Closed Loop Fund and our continuing partnership with Keep America Beautiful give us a way to address both of those needs and put us on the path toward achieving a substantial increase in the container recycling rate over the long term."
To date, DPS has removed more than 75 million lbs of plastic from the waste stream.
In addition, the company recycles more than 85% of the solid waste generated by its manufacturing operations and is working to increase the rate through continuous improvement.
Image: Dr Pepper Snapple to boost beverage container recycling in US. Photo: courtesy of Natara / FreeDigitalPhotos.net.
