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Beverage bottle recycling is possibly the easiest, most accessible way for your park or attraction to participate in environmental sustainability— and it’s something your guests probably expect.
“Being green is no longer a trend; it’s becoming ingrained in our culture,” says Jennifer Berry, public and strategic relations manager for Earth911.com, the nation’s largest recycling directory. “When managed correctly, recycling doesn’t have to be a cost center. It can zero out or even bring income.”
Income? That’s right. There is a commodities market for recycled food-grade PET (polyethylene terephtalate), the lightweight plastic used to make most water and soda bottles. Although bottle manufacturers seek recycled PET to make new bottles, there is currently not enough PET collected in the United States to meet the demand. According to the National Association for PET Container Resources (NAPCOR), PET bottle recycling has increased steadily year over year for the past two decades but still totals only about 30 percent.
Breck Speed is CEO of Mountain Valley Spring Water in Hot Springs National Park, Arkansas. His company manufactures bottles for 60 other bottled-water companies, using a minimum of 15 percent recycled content. “There’s a real movement toward using recycled content, but people are scrambling to find it; it’s valuable stuff,” he says.
 To increase PET recycling rates, there has been a strong movement to expand recycling programs beyond curbside residential collection to “public space recycling,” which includes amusement parks and attractions, stadiums, and other public spaces as well as temporary events such as state fairs. Nestlé Canada, which supplies almost 50 percent of the bottled water in Canada, has been actively involved in this movement, working with governments and businesses to pilot new programs. The results have been stunning, says John Challinor, director of corporate affairs for Nestlé Canada.
The first public-space recycling program was piloted in Sarnia, Canada, in 2007, targeting sports arenas. Recycling rates jumped from zero to 75 percent in three months.
Putting a program in place has multiple benefits, Challinor says: a cleaner park, improved reputation among guests, and a potential new revenue stream for the virgin PET from bottles not made with recycled material.
“Public space recycling rates lag residential [rates] but also show greater promise for participation,” says Ed Skernolis, vice president for recycling at Keep America Beautiful in Washington, D.C. His organization conducted a study that showed only 12 percent to 14 percent of public spaces in the United States have recycling bins.
To implement a program, Skernolis says, the key is to design a system that makes recycling easy and obvious. Here are the key elements:
Consider bin design and placement. People make decisions in an eighth of a second, Skernolis says; push them toward the decision to recycle by making bins plentiful and eye-catching. Challinor suggests pairing a bin with every trash receptacle and using pictograms to surmount language barriers. Also, use a top design that identifies what should go inside; round holes for bottles and cans help to prevent other trash in the bin.
Be sure to place the bins at strategic points in the park: near entrances, food concessions, restrooms, and attractions that tend to have long lines. “People take the path of least resistance; they will only walk so far to recycle,” says Challinor. Berry suggests overhead signage for extra visibility.
If placing hundreds of bins is prohibitive, go for big and bold: At the North Carolina State Fair in Raleigh, held each October, there are only 20 bins, but they are 6 feet tall and yellow and green.
Partner with your beverage provider. Many amusement parks and attractions have pouring rights contracts with beverage suppliers; these companies are actively promoting recycling and will happily work with you to develop a program. Coca-Cola Recycling is a division of Coca-Cola Refreshments founded in 2007 to pursue the goal of recovering 100 percent of the company’s post-consumer material. The company has built the world’s largest PET conversion plant in Spartanburg, South Carolina.
 “We want to ensure that we are comprehensive in our approach,” says Gary Wygant, vice president of business development for Coca-Cola Recycling. The division focuses on three things: consumer education, access to recycling, and recovery of the recycled material. In 2009, it began working with Six Flags to activate recycling in 12 theme parks and four waterparks. “We can assess a property to find out where people are drinking and finishing their beverages,” says David Frame, strategic account executive.
Parks should reach out to their beverage suppliers, says Jason Freeman, president of Six Flags New England and former corporate director of green sustainability. “Recycling beverage containers helps to reduce your carbon footprint and goes against what you’re purchasing from your supplier,” he says.
Involve your waste collection company. Ask them to conduct a waste audit of your property, suggests Berry. “They can tell you what kinds of waste you produce, what may be high-volume commodities, and the resources available in your area to recycle the products. Plastic bottles are recyclable, but success depends on the local services and suppliers available,” she says.
Unlike regular trash, which is simply hauled off and disposed of, recycled material requires that you concern yourself with the back end. To bring a fair price, it must be sorted by type—aluminum, glass, plastic—and baled in truckload quantities. The University of Arkansas set up its own recycling center in 1994, complete with forklifts, weight scales, and a baler, and conducts its own material sales. “Locate a local outlet for the material,” suggests Gary Enzor, recycling coordinator for the university. “Even if your waste company just collects it for you, you’re still saving money on landfill tipping fees.”
 You also want to ensure the recycled materials go to market, says Challinor; seek assurance that materials will not be landfilled. “The smart amusement park operator will become a partner with their waste management company to create this revenue area,” he says.
You don’t have to be big to go green. “Smaller properties can easily implement these programs,” says Skernolis at Keep America Beautiful. He suggests asking your waste collector for a rolloff box that will serve as a consolidation point for the material and allows you to accumulate enough volume for pickup.
Beverage and bottled-water companies represent another potential market for the recycled bottles. Through its Coke Bin grant program, Coca-Cola helps customers provide bins, collect recyclables, and recover the materials. “The waste system operates in tandem with the recycling program, ensuring a robust recovery loop on the operational side,” Wygant says.
“Find a partner who will buy back the plastic at a reasonable price,” says Speed, who says that Mountain Valley Spring and many other bottled-water companies are eager to form such relationships.
Practice precycling. Make decisions about what is purchased and served in your park based on what’s recyclable. “Parks can control the containers that people have in their hands,” says Skernolis. “Isolation [of materials] produces a purer, less contaminated waste stream. The quality of the material is an issue and will bring a higher price.”
Coca-Cola Recycling recently worked with NASCAR to effect such a switch. When several NASCAR racetracks decided to transition from fountain drinks to packaged beverages, the potential effect was significant enough that it was a partial driver for the formation of Coca-Cola Recycling. “It constituted a huge change in waste composition; we have been collaborating on their waste strategy for three years,” says Wygant, who notes that 5 million beverage containers were collected in 2010 alone at NASCAR events.
Educate and publicize. “Recycling drives and events can increase recycling while bringing more guests to the park,” says Berry. Six Flags has long offered reduced ticket prices to guests who bring an empty Coke can; now, cardboard recycling containers in the ticket booths ensure that the cans are recycled.
Complement bins with communications around the park that encourage recycling: signage, brochures, and advertisements. Visitors to the North Carolina State Fair were reminded with regular public-address announcements, says Natalie Alford, public information officer.
Last, don’t be intimidated, says Freeman of Six Flags: “There are some upfront costs to any green program, but there are also tons of incentives and rebates. It will result in savings over time and reduce your carbon footprint.”
Jennifer J. Salopek is a freelance writer in McLean, Virginia. She can be reached at jjsalopek@cox.net.
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