The Florida Recycling Partnership, Anheuser-Busch and the Florida Department of Environmental Protection held a Summit to address the current state of recycling in Florida on Wednesday, October 3. The one-day event began at the Anheuser-Busch’s Metal Container Corporation with a press conference and tour of the facility before moving to the Anheuser-Busch Jacksonville brewery for the educational session.
During the press conference, Randy Burch, Director of Operations for Anheuser-Busch, said that their Metal Container Corporation (MCC) manufactures three billion aluminum cans and bottles a year for beer, sodas and energy drinks with a 99% recycling rate. Anheuser-Busch currently has a 99.8 percent recycling rate in its major U.S breweries and has committed to having 100% of their packaging made from majority recycled content or returnable by 2025.
Sen. Rob Bradley, R-Fleming Island, addressed business owners, university professors and environmental enthusiasts from around the state. “This event is about what we can do as citizens to protect our state instead of putting all of the responsibility on government officials,” said Bradley. “Florida wants to continue to implement educational programs to raise awareness as we work towards 100 percent sustainability.”
John Truitt, Deputy Secretary for Regulatory Program, said the Florida Department of Environmental Protection (FDEP) has a new Recycling Program that assists citizens and industry in protecting Florida’s environment entitled “Rethink. Reset. Recycle.” The campaign serves to remind Floridians of basic curbside recycling: clean and dry aluminum and steel cans, plastic bottles and jugs, and paper and cardboard. For more information about the campaign, go to FloridaRecycles.org. Through FDEP efforts, Florida’s recycling rate has increased from 22 percent in 2011 to 52 percent in 2017.
Dawn McCormick, the Director of Communications for Waste Management, the largest recycling company in North America, talked about working with the Florida Recycling Partnership, FDEP and others to educate people on what materials to recycle. So many times, people “wish-cycle” hoping an item can be recycled when it cannot. When people put the wrong items in their recycling bin, it causes the load to go to a landfill instead of a processing facility.
During the educational session at the Brewery, participants heard presentations by Kim Walker and Karen Moore from FDEP; Dr. Tim Townsend – University of Florida and the Hinkley Center for Solid and Hazardous Waste Management; Dawn McCormick – Waste Management and Gene Jones from Southern Waste Information Exchange (SWIX).
Upon conclusion of the Summit, participants had an opportunity to tour the Brewery to see firsthand how Anheuser-Busch recycles and reuses many of the materials used in its brewing process. The Florida Recycling Partnership plans to hold additional summits and workshops across the state to educate policy makers, business leaders and the general public about the benefits of recycling.