International Bottled Water Association Partners with The Recycling Partnership to Grow Recovery

International Bottled Water Association | MEDIA RELEASE | March 9, 2016

International Bottled Water Association Partners with The Recycling Partnership to Grow Recovery

Alexandria, VA – With an eye toward improving recycling through communications and education, the International Bottled Water Association (IBWA) signed on as the newest partner of The Recycling Partnership. This announcement marks the fourth new partner in as many months, as IBWA joins Kimberly-Clark, the Consumer Technology Association, and Heineken USA as the latest additions to The Partnership’s expanding group of diverse backers – numbering 22 and counting – which also include Procter & Gamble, the Can Manufacturing Institute, and the American Forest and Paper Association. 

“It’s a pretty simple equation. More funding partners equals more resources, which directly equates to the recovery of more high quality recyclable material,” noted Keefe Harrison, Executive Director of The Recycling Partnership. “IBWA unifies the bottled water industry in much the same way that we unify the recycling industry, making them great strategy partners for squeezing every last drop of goodness out of our work.”

Last year alone, The Partnership leveraged $11 million of new recycling infrastructure including the delivery of 165,000 recycling carts, and provided direct value to 1.2 million households. New engagements in 2016 include improving quality across Massachusetts in partnership with MassDEP, and rolling out carts in partnership with the City of Santa Fe, New Mexico.

“The bottled water industry is actively working to build partnerships that will help increase recycling efforts, and the reliable, scalable results that The Recycling Partnership delivers are hitting the mark for us,” said Chris Hogan, IBWA Vice-President of Communications. “The recycling rate for single-serve PET plastic bottled water containers has more than doubled in the last 10 years and they are the most frequently recycled PET beverage containers in curbside recycling programs. As an industry, we are always looking for ways to strengthen existing programs and help to expand recycling efforts ever further.”

The Partnership’s 2016 grant round is currently open, geared specifically to help counties, municipalities, tribes, and solid waste authorities with 4,000 or more households upgrade to cart-based collection. The new Request for Proposals for cart and education grants is available at recyclingpartnership.org.

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NOTE: Photos/head shots available upon request

Media Contact:
Jill Culora
jculora@bottledwater.org
703.647.4609

The International Bottled Water Association (IBWA) is the authoritative source of information about all types of bottled waters, including spring, mineral, purified, artesian, and sparkling. Founded in 1958, IBWA’s membership includes U.S. and international bottlers, distributors and suppliers. IBWA is committed to working with the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA), which regulates bottled water as a packaged food product, to set comprehensive and stringent standards for safe, high-quality bottled water products.  

In addition to FDA regulations, IBWA member bottlers must adhere to the IBWA Bottled Water Code of Practice, which mandates additional standards and practices that in some cases are more stringent than federal and state regulations. A key feature of the IBWA Bottled Water Code of Practice is a mandatory annual plant inspection by an independent, third-party organization.  

IBWA is proud to be a partner with Keep America Beautiful and a supporter of Drink Up, an initiative of former First Lady Michelle Obama and the Partnership for a Healthier America (PHA), which encourages Americans to drink more water more often – whether from the tap, a filter, or in a bottle. Choosing water is always the healthy choice.

About The Recycling Partnership

The Recycling Partnership (recyclingpartnership.org) is a dynamic industry collaboration focused on systematically and measurably improving curbside recycling in the United States. Working with community and industry partners nationwide, our strength lies in our best-in-class operational and technical support, proven community outreach approaches, and highly-leveraged seed grants to communities.

For more information:
Jason Hale
The Recycling Partnership
jhale@recyclingpartnership.org
(252) 455-4788