William Gamble
executive director, Missouri Beverage Association
Jefferson City
Dear Editor:
The COVID-19 pandemic has brought about drastic changes to our daily lives. The share of products consumed, used and disposed of at home has grown, thus highlighting the need for sustainable recycling solutions.
Despite these recent challenges, America's beverage industry is leading the way toward sustainable solutions, driving consumer awareness of the need for our plastic beverage bottles to be recycled so that they can be remade into new bottles, as intended.
Last month, our industry marked its one-year anniversary of the Every Bottle Back initiative, an unprecedented partnership with World Wildlife Fund, The Recycling Partnership and Closed Loop Partners to upgrade and modernize recycling infrastructure while helping consumers with ways to recycle better.
America's leading beverage companies and its Every Bottle Back partners have invested millions of dollars in key regions across the country that will strengthen community recycling programs and generate more than 644 million new pounds of recycled PET. The investments advance the collection of our 100 percent recyclable bottles and cans so that they can be remade, decreasing our use of new plastic.
Sunday marked the start of America Recycles Week, a time to celebrate the positive impact of community recycling and how we can all come together to advance innovative solutions to build a more circular economy and protect our environment.
At Missouri Beverage Association, we're proud of our industry's proactive leadership and look forward to building on our commitment to a safe and sustainable environment for generations to come.