Even though Earth Day 2022 is over, there’s always opportunity to create solutions that support a sustainable environment.

Maine’s beverage companies take this commitment seriously. We design our plastic bottles and cans to be 100 percent recyclable. Our bottles are not single-use. They are made to be remade, and we want every bottle back so they can be remade into new ones. That limits plastic waste and reduces the use of new plastic, thereby lowering consumption of fossil fuels.

To help get these valuable bottles back, America’s leading non-alcoholic beverage companies are placing a uniform message on plastic bottle caps to remind consumers to recycle the bottle with the cap on.

Our industry can have a far greater impact collaborating with others who share the goal of advancing a circular economy. So we’re partnering with leading environmental organizations – Closed Loop Partners, the Recycling Partnership and World Wildlife Fund – to reduce our plastic footprint and make investments in recycling systems that improve access and infrastructure.

Those partnerships are also happening locally. Over the past year, we worked with the Natural Resources Council of Maine to enact L.D. 1467, legislation requiring a minimum recycled content standard in plastic beverage bottles. These standards will help close the loop on recycled plastic and build a circular economy in Maine, and the region.

Our goal is to recover every bottle we produce so we use less new plastic and ensure our bottles don’t end up in nature or wasted in landfills. Because every day should be Earth Day.

Newell Augur
executive director, Maine Beverage Association
Augusta

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