Fresh drink of water

The proof will be in the pudding, but the partnership between the American Beverage Association and the Climate Group has a good deal of promise to significantly improve the environmental impact of one of our most high-profile products, beverage containers.

The partnership, called Recycled Together, aims to use the beverage industry´s considerable marketing power to encourage recycling. But it also will push beverage manufacturers to design their packaging in a more environmentally friendly manner, such as making lighter containers, using higher percentages of recyclable materials and striving to make containers close to 100% recyclable.

Perhaps one measure of how serious manufacturers are about the project is whether they become more receptive to bottle bills and container deposits, something they have generally been opposed to in the past. In New York, for example, the governor is pushing to expand the state´s bottle bill, in part because officials see an important potential revenue source in the unclaimed deposits.

Bottle bills are just one solution to reducing container waste. But real progress in whatever form can have a psychological as well as direct environmental benefit. Getting consumers thinking more about recycling can have a snowball effect.

Not to mention the value of generating potential revenue in these dire economic times.

(Jan. 5 issue)