New Round of Grants Aimed at Improving Recycling in Public Parks

Dr Pepper Snapple Group in partnership with national nonprofit Keep America Beautiful is funding 914 new recycling bins in public parks across the country as part of a grant program.

The Dr Pepper Snapple Group/Keep America Beautiful Park Recycling Bin Grant Program, now in its fifth year, has provided more than 4,300 recycling bins to local governments and community organizations across 41 states.

“We are very pleased with the momentum that continues to build through our ongoing work with Keep America Beautiful,” Vicki Draughn, vice president of corporate affairs for Dr Pepper Snapple Group, said in a statement. “As communities continue to improve their infrastructure to support recycling at home and at work, this program helps address a persistent challenge, which is improving recycling opportunities for people on-the-go.”

“Too many public parks and other public spaces lack recycling bins that are within reach,” Brenda Pulley, senior vice president/recycling, Keep America Beautiful, said in a statement. “Our partnership with Dr Pepper Snapple Group has placed bins in hundreds of parks across the U.S., in the process giving nearly 1 million people convenient access to new recycling opportunities.”

A recent national survey conducted by Keep America Beautiful revealed a lack of away from home recycling opportunities. While more than 90 percent of people indicated it was not a challenge to recycle at home, over 55 percent found it difficult to recycle in public places such as parks. Additional research conducted by Keep America Beautiful indicated only 12 percent of surveyed public locations had recycling infrastructure in place to recover the containers. The Dr Pepper Snapple Group/Keep America Beautiful Park Recycling Bin Grant Program is designed to address the obstacles of overcoming lack of recycling convenience.

In addition to improving recycling opportunities, the grant program will make additional funds available to Keep America Beautiful community-based affiliates and other grant recipients who commit to conducting a Litter Index in conjunction with the grant to help study the effects of the recycling bins to reduce litter in the immediate areas of the bins.