Coca-Cola Recycling launches recycling center in Texas

Coca-Cola Recycling LLC opened a new consumer recycling center in Irving, Texas that accepts and processes aluminum cans and #1 PET plastic beverage bottles. The new center was created to offer free and convenient access to beverage container recycling.

The Dallas-Fort Worth area was selected as the pilot market for the Reimagine recycling program, and the first Reimagine Beverage Containers recycling center was opened in Arlington last November. More than 2.3 million containers have been collected and recycled at centers in Arlington, Plano and Garland in less than a year, resulting in almost 100,000 pounds of material diverted from DFW-area landfills.

“We know that people want to recycle,” said Alain Robichaud, president of Coca-Cola Recycling, “but when recycling is inconvenient for consumers, too many used beverage containers end up as waste. The outstanding results we have seen from Reimagine prove that we can raise recycling rates when we make it easy, accessible, rewarding and fun.”

The new center in Irving was opened when a “ribbon” made from used beverage containers was cut by Irving city councilwoman Rose Cannaday, Kroger Southwest president Bill Breetz and Coca-Cola Refreshments South Region senior vice-president and general manager Mark Schortman. After the ribbon was cut, students from Holy Family of Nazareth School recycled containers that will help them earn free supplies and equipment for their school.

Recycling provides many benefits to communities, but the Reimagine Beverage Containers center adds a Rewards for Recycling program that provides added benefits for schools. Consumers who recycle at Reimagine can designate a local K-12 school to receive credit for the containers they recycle; the school will be awarded My Coke Rewards points redeemable for much-needed supplies and equipment.

To celebrate the opening of the new Reimagine center, an additional incentive program has been created. A $100 gift certificate redeemable for supplies will be awarded for every 1,000 eligible containers recycled on a school’s behalf by January 20, up to a maximum value of $5,000.

Consumers who prefer not to designate a school to receive credit for their recycled containers can use their Reimagine points to get personal rewards, like free or discounted merchandise and event tickets, or to enter sweepstakes drawings for prizes.

Reimagine Beverage Containers recycling centers feature technology developed by Environmental Products Corporation. Reimagine allows the recycling consumer to bulk feed up to 150 cans and PET plastic bottles per minute; the containers are fed onto a conveyor where optical scanners verify the material and sort by material type. The PET bottles and aluminum containers are separated, crushed and stored; anything else is sent to a reject bin. Because the material is pre-sorted and crushed, it can move efficiently through the recycle stream and into the production process to be remade into new products.

Kroger is the retail host for the Reimagine pilot program and plans are under way for additional placements, including a center planned to open in Little Elm next month.