Foundation’s $300,000 grant will boost recycling across the country
Falls Church, VA (April 24, 2019) – Alcoa Foundation announced today it is contributing $300,000 to The Recycling Partnership, the nonprofit change agent transforming recycling for good. The donation will help boost residential recycling rates in states, cities and communities across the country.
A founding partner of The Recycling Partnership, Alcoa Foundation’s multi-year support is part of the All In On Recycling challenge, which aims to help more than 25 million Americans recycle more and recycle better. The challenge kicked off in July 2018 with a $10 million investment from the PepsiCo Foundation and seeks to raise $25 million from leading businesses, companies, and organizations to deliver recycling support to more than 2,800 communities nationwide.
“We are delighted to have Alcoa Foundation, one of our very first partners, continue its relationship with The Recycling Partnership and support the All In On Recycling challenge,” said Keefe Harrison, CEO of The Recycling Partnership. “Alcoa Foundation’s multi-year commitment is indicative of how much the company not only believes in our mission, but also understands that long-term support of our organization is critical to creating a healthier U.S. recycling system.”
The challenge helps communities strengthen their recycling programs by providing funding for curbside carts, the missing infrastructure needed to recover recyclables from multi-family homes, as well as critical recycling education and operational programs. Helping residents increase the amount they recycle – and ensuring they are recycling correctly – is critical to supporting a circular economy and building a sustainable recycling system in the U.S.
“We have seen the huge impact The Recycling Partnership has made in improving the quality and quantity of captured recycled materials,” says Rosa García Pineiro, President of Alcoa Foundation. “We’re excited to strengthen our relationship with the Partnership and support the All In On Recyclingchallenge to help the rapidly-growing nonprofit drive measurable recycling system change from coast to coast.
The All In On Recycling challenge aims to provide carts to more than 550,000 households and has already enabled communities in Iowa, Ohio, Minnesota, New Jersey and North Dakota to expand their recycling programs. The Recycling Partnership estimates the challenge will help the U.S. capture 2 million more tons of recyclables, including 7 billion more cans and bottles by 2022.
“Congratulations to Alcoa Foundation for making a multi-year investment to help lift U.S. recycling rates and drive a stronger circular economy,” said Kathleen Niesen, Director, Recycling and Sustainability, PepsiCo Beverages North America. “It’s more important than ever that we support proven effective strategies, like additional infrastructure and education, that make recycling work in the U.S. We know that most Americans want to recycle more, and with partners like Alcoa Foundation and The Recycling Partnership, we can help make recycling easier and more convenient in communities across the country.”
About The Recycling Partnership
The Recycling Partnership (recyclingpartnership.org) is a national nonprofit organization that leverages corporate partner funding to transform recycling for good in states, cities and communities all across America. As the only organization in the country that engages the full recycling supply chain from the corporations that manufacture products and packaging to local governments charged with recycling to industry end markets, haulers, material recovery facilities, and converters; The Recycling Partnership positively impacts recycling at every step in the process. The Recycling Partnership has served more than 1,000 communities and counting with best-in-class tools, data, resources and technical support, helped place 500,000 recycling carts, reached 50 million households, and helped companies and communities invest more than $37 million in recycling infrastructure.In doing so, The Recycling Partnership has created meaningful social, environmental, and economic change. By the end of 2019, the nonprofit change agent estimates it will have diverted 230 million pounds of new recyclables, saved 465 million gallons of water, avoided 250 thousand metric tons of GHG, and driven significant reductions in targeted contamination rates.
About Alcoa Foundation
Alcoa Foundation invests where Alcoa Corporation has a presence, providing grants that contribute to environmental excellence around the world, particularly in the areas of biodiversity conservation and climate change research. Learn more at alcoafoundation.com and follow @AlcoaFoundation on Twitter.
About The PepsiCo Foundation
Established in 1962, The PepsiCo Foundation works with nonprofit partners and invests in the essential elements of a sustainable food system – helping alleviate hunger, manage water and waste responsibly, and support women as champions of nutrition from farm to family. Learn more at: https://www.pepsico.com/sustainability/philanthropy
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