New Recycling Pilot Program Launches in Florida, Targeting 6M Pounds of Aluminum

Proud Source Water, Ball Corporation, and Replenysh announced today the launch of a new pilot program to support recycling infrastructure and increase recycling rates of aluminum in Florida. The goal of the pilot is to recover a minimum of six-million pounds of aluminum over the next 12 months.

3 out of 4 aluminum cans are thrown away in Florida. The goal of this pilot program is to create new circularity infrastructure to help capture this material before it goes to landfill. Facilitated by Replenysh, the pilot will work within communities with little to no recycling access to recover aluminum containers for a more circular supply chain. The pilot program will work with K-12 schools to establish them “host locations” who will help collect the material and hopefully lay the groundwork for long-term systemic change in improvements in Florida’s recycling infrastructure. The schools will then benefit from the sale of the collected material with the ability to reinvest those funds back in their local communities while also helping to divert waste from landfill.

“We have a responsibility as a consumer-packaged goods company to collect what we put out into the world,” said CJ Pennington, Co-Founder and President of Proud Source Water. “This is the first step towards demonstrating that circularity in our supply chain is not just a concept but a reality that we can achieve.”

“Replenysh is the first and only community-powered collection network helping brands recover and reuse their materials,” said Mark Armen, Founder and CEO of Replenysh. “We are eager to bring this program to Florida with the support of Proud Source and Ball Corporation as we increase access to recycling and further enable a circular economy for aluminum cans.”

“In supporting the circularity of aluminum, increasing recycled content and recycling rates is crucial,” said Jay Billings, President Ball Aerosol Packaging at Ball Corporation. “Aluminum packaging is infinitely recyclable. Pilot programs like this one could be the key to unlocking true scalable circularity for aluminum, helping to ensure the infinitely recyclable packaging doesn’t end up in a landfill.”

Today only 25% of products in the US are actually recycled. The average recycle rate for aluminum cans in the United States is approximately 43%. More cans are consumed in Florida than almost anywhere else in the United States however, the recycle rate for aluminum is only 25% with most aluminum cans ending up in the landfill. There is tremendous environmental and economic benefit to increasing the recycling rates of aluminum. In fact, Increasing Florida’s aluminum recycling rate to 90% would:

• Generate $151.8 million for Florida’s economy through material sales
• Contribute 9,400 jobs in collection, sorting, and reprocessing to Florida’s economy
• Keep 119,700 tons of materials out of the landfill each year
• Save enough energy to power 132,000 homes for a year
• Avoid 1.1 million MTCO2e of GHG emissions annually — equivalent to taking 237,000 cars off the road for a year

Businesses, schools, and community organizations are invited to enroll as host locations throughout the state of Florida to quickly scale the program. Hosts can track collected materials in real time and benefit from commodity earnings. To learn more or sign up to become a host location, please visit https://replenysh.com/proud-source

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Source: https://www.prweb.com/releases/2022/07/prweb18785863.htm