“This is the very first time that this group has come together in one room,” according to Brenda Pulley, Vice President of Keep America Beautiful and an attendee at Alcoa’s Action to Accelerate Recycling event in Dallas, Texas. The group of companies, representing more than 70% of the soft drink brands, more than 90% of the glass industry, about 80% of the beer industry, and 100% of the North American can sheet industry, are meeting to carve a path toward higher recycling rates to recover vital secondary raw materials from the waste stream.
“Our goal is to drive the recycling rate up in the US by 20 points, said Beth Schmitt,” director of recycling programs for Alcoa, the host of the event. “And we’ll do it- I am confident of that.” Among other strategies, the group is working to drive a social shift among consumers to make recycling the norm, rather than the exception.
Follow the event at #AAR12
Image: Alcoa Vice President and Chief Sustainability Officer, Kevin Anton, leads an ideation session with leaders from the packaging supply chain.
More than 90 industry leaders, representing nearly all of the packaging and beverage industries in the U.S. gathered today in Dallas, TX to kick off the Action to Accelerate Recycling Summit, sponsored by Alcoa. Energized and experienced leaders from government, industry and non-governmental organizations began to tackle the issue of how to voluntarily drive recycling rates up by 20 percentage points in the next three years.
"The collective knowledge, experience, and passion for driving recycling rates higher is energizing," said Beth Schmitt, director of recycling programs for Alcoa. "There's a sense of momentum that's developing here. The companies here know that increasing recycling is not only the right thing to do, it's the smart thing to do for our shareholders."
The summit concludes on February 9, with a call to launch an industry-driven program to drive higher recycling rates rapidly to meet demand for recycled content.
DALLAS, TX – Alcoa has convened some 90 leaders in sustainability, packaging leadership, and recycling in Dallas, Texas for an Action to Accelerate Recycling (AAR) Summit to foster innovation and collaboration to drive higher rates for packaging recycling. Leaders of most of the soft drink and beer industry, packaging manufacturers, thought leaders on creating social change among consumers, and recycling industry experts will participate in a unique facilitated “System in the Room” event to speed up progress to attain higher recycling rates in the U.S.
“This is not just another conference on recycling,” said Beth Schmitt, director of recycling programs for Alcoa, the largest global aluminum company and one of the largest can recyclers in the world. “This summit is designed to ignite real change, driven by industry, to achieve one thing: dramatically higher recycling rates. We want to close the loop on aluminum can recycling in the U.S.”
Be on the lookout for updates here, on facebook and via Twitter (@Alcoa) during the AAR Summit (#AAR12), February 8 and 9, in Dallas, TX.
From all of us at Alcoa, happy holidays and warmest wishes for a peaceful and prosperous New Year.
Click here to view Alcoa's Holiday Greetings 2011, and please share with friends!
Students at Penn Trafford High School (Pittsburgh, PA) in the AP Physics class (class of 2012) took the idea of making a “recycle tree" from the Alcoa web site to school. Classmates and the teacher were excited to give it a try. Below is the photo. It looks pretty good! Best of all, it was a good “team building” exercise for everyone… it was a group effort!!! We've since learned they are adding lights to the tree. What a great idea! To learn how you, your family, classmates or friends can build your very own CAN tree, please check out the link below (includes video and instructions).
Fox Business News "American Icon" Series
Live from Alcoa's Whitehall, Michigan, Operations
Beth Schmitt, Director of Recycling, Alcoa, tells Fox Business News' Liz Claman how the company is recycling aluminum and giving the material new life. Aluminum's advantages: infinitely recyclable, light weight, and durable.
Watch: http://video.foxbusiness.com/v/1241834346001/giving-aluminum-new-life
Nary a week goes by without an inquiry or email about a strange but pervasive practice among many non-profit organizations…we’re talking about the fact that many organizations collect tabs for aluminum cans, but ONLY the tabs. Many organizations throw the cans away in the mistaken believe that the tabs are worth more.
Tout au contraire! Truth be told, the tab represents about three percent of the total aluminum package, which is totally, 100%, infinitely recyclable! By trashing the can, you’d be throwing away more than 95% of the weight, thereby reducing the value you could be gaining through your recycling program and even worse – you’d be trashing an energy-packed natural resource that is totally recyclable!
If you’re part of a non-profit who may be collecting tabs-only instead of tabs-attached-to-cans, spread the word that more value and more positive impact to the environment can be achieved through whole-can recycling!
Check out this rumor-squelching link from Snopes:
http://www.snopes.com/business/redeem/pulltabs.asp
