Applications Open For 2018 Recycling Bins Grant

Coca-Cola and Keep America Beautiful mark America Recycles Day with recycling bins grant program for public spaces and facilities.

On America Recycles Day, November 15, national nonprofit Keep America Beautiful and The Coca-Cola Foundation have announced the opening of the application period for its 2018 Keep America Beautiful/Coca-Cola Public Spaces Recycling Bin Grant Program. Now in its 12th year, the initiative is designed to increase access to recycling in community public spaces across America by donating recycling bins. Grant applications will be available online through December 30, 2018 (until 11:59 p.m. EST). Applicants may visit BinGrant.org to apply.recycling bins

For the past 11 years, The Coca-Cola Foundation has supported the program, which has donated recycling bins to more than 1,000 communities in all 50 states and the District of Columbia. Over the history of the program, more than 36,000 public space recycling bins have been awarded, providing opportunities for recycling on the go to more than two million people daily.

The 2018 program will distribute 4,500 recycling bins in public space locations ranging from athletic fields to fairs and festivals to downtown streetscapes and playgrounds and other on-the-go settings. The program is funded through a $350,000 grant from The Coca-Cola Foundation to Keep America Beautiful, which in turn awards recycling bins through a competitive, merit-based application process.

“Since its inception in 2007, the grant program has made impressive strides toward expanding recycling in public spaces,” said Randy Hartmann, senior director of affiliate operations for Keep America Beautiful. “Through these grants, The Coca-Cola Foundation is reducing two of the primary barriers for on-the-go recycling – accessibility and convenience.”

Eligible recipients for the 2018 Public Spaces Recycling Bin Grant Program include government agencies, colleges and universities, civic organizations, public and local nonprofit groups throughout the United States. Keep America Beautiful will award the grants in mid-January 2019 and make arrangements with suppliers to deliver recycling bins directly to the recipients in the first quarter of 2019.

“Community recycling is one of the key ways The Coca-Cola Foundation is helping communities address litter and support the environment. In partnership with Keep America Beautiful, we can help communities reduce litter by offering grants for recycling bins in parks, recreation areas, campuses and city streets,” said Helen Smith Price, President of The Coca-Cola Foundation.

In addition to the Foundation’s support, earlier this year, The Coca-Cola Company announced a global goal to collect and recycle the equivalent of 100% of the bottles and cans it places in the market by 2030. To accomplish this goal, Coca-Cola and its bottling partners, are working to make better bottles with more recycled and renewable content, collaborating with industry peers, community organizations and customers to help ensure that communities have access to curbside and public space recycling, and supporting waterway clean ups to ensure that its packaging does not end up where it does not belong.

Grant applications will be available online through December 30, 2018 (until 11:59 p.m. EST). Applicants may visit BinGrant.org to apply. See list of 2017 grant recipients here.