Dr Pepper Snapple & Keep America Beautiful Kick Off Fifth Recycling Partnership

STAMFORD, Conn., Jan. 26, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- The Dr Pepper Snapple Group/Keep America Beautiful Park Recycling Bin Grant program opened its 2017 application process today, offering new opportunities to make recycling convenient for communities across the country. 

Now in its fifth year, the grant program from Dr Pepper Snapple Group (NYSE: DPS) and Keep America Beautiful has awarded more than 3,400 recycling bins to local governments and community organizations across 38 states to expand the availability of recycling in a variety of park settings, including neighborhood and larger regional parks, beaches, athletic fields and walking trails. 

To apply for the merit-based grant program, interested organizations and communities complete an online form, detailing their proposal and selecting the number and style of recycling bins from available options. Keep America Beautiful will competitively review and award grants based on need and likelihood to recover significant quantities of recyclables. Arrangements will be made to deliver the recycling bins directly to the grant recipients in May 2017. Applications are open for submission at irecycleonthego.wordpress.com through Feb. 24, 2017. 

"Providing choices and options is central to our commitment to our consumers. That not only means making and selling a wide range of the brands they love, but also increasing the convenient recycling options available to them in their favorite parks and community spaces," said Vicki Draughn, vice president of corporate affairs for Dr Pepper Snapple Group. "We're proud of our longstanding work with Keep America Beautiful to help communities across America enjoy cleaner public spaces and reduce the strain on their landfills by improving access to recycling on-the-go." 

The lack of away-from-home recycling opportunities is reflected in a recent national survey Keep America Beautiful conducted to determine where people normally recycle. While 92 percent said they recycled at home, only 19 percent indicated that they typically recycle in public 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. 

"Making recycling more accessible in public parks will help expand recycling opportunities and further reinforce proper recycling behavior in park settings," said Brenda Pulley, senior vice president/recycling, Keep America Beautiful. "Keep America Beautiful is pleased that our partnership with Dr Pepper Snapple Group is helping to bring the convenience of public space recycling to more people." 

In addition to improving recycling opportunities, the grant program will fund Keep America Beautiful's community-based affiliates or other grant recipients who commit to conducting a Litter Index in conjunction with the grant. The index will be used to study the effects of the recycling bins to reduce litter in the immediate areas of the bins. Read more about Keep America Beautiful's efforts to End Littering in America, Improve Recycling in America and Beautify America's Communities at kab.org. 

About Keep America Beautiful 
At Keep America Beautiful, we want to ensure that beauty is our lasting signature. A leading national nonprofit, Keep America Beautiful inspires and educates people to take action every day to improve and beautify their community environment. We envision a country in which every community is a clean, green and beautiful place to live. Established in 1953, Keep America Beautiful provides the expertise, programs and resources to help people End Littering, Improve Recycling and Beautify America's Communities. The organization is driven by the work and passion of more than 620 community-based Keep America Beautiful affiliates, millions of volunteers and the support of corporate partners, municipalities, elected officials and individuals. To donate or take action, visit kab.org. Follow us on Twitter and Instagram, like us on Facebook, or view us on YouTube. 

About Dr Pepper Snapple Group 
Dr Pepper Snapple Group (NYSE: DPS) is a leading producer of flavored beverages in North America and the Caribbean. Our success is fueled by more than 50 brands that are synonymous with refreshment, fun and flavor. We have seven of the top 10 non-cola soft drinks, and 12 of our 14 leading brands are No. 1 or No. 2 in their flavor categories. In addition to our flagship Dr Pepper and Snapple brands, our portfolio includes 7UP, A&W, Canada Dry, Clamato, Crush, Hawaiian Punch, Mott's, Mr & Mrs T mixers, Peñafiel, Rose's, Schweppes, Squirt and Sunkist soda. To learn more about our iconic brands and Plano, Texas-based company, please visit DrPepperSnapple.com. For our latest news and updates, follow us at Facebook.com/DrPepperSnapple or Twitter.com/DrPepperSnapple. For more information on DPS's philanthropic efforts and sustainability goals, visit www.dpsgsustainability.com.

Editor's Insight: These are great programs for operators to piggyback on to show support for sustainability.