FollowANCHORAGE, Nov. 18, 2021 – Efforts to make aluminum beverage cans from rural areas easier to recycle will get a much-needed boost from the local Coca-Cola bottler and the Odom Corporation.
The Coca-Cola Bottling Co. of Alaska and Odom joined forces to provide financial assistance to rural Alaska recycling efforts managed by Alaskans for Litter Prevention and Recycling (ALPAR). The two-year partnership will provide $6,000 per year beginning in 2022. Funding will provide rural communities greater access to aluminum can-crushing equipment to facilitate the recycling of UBCs (used beverage containers) in Alaska’s farthest-flung regions.
“Recognizing our responsibility to solve global packaging waste issues, we are thrilled to work with ALPAR to launch a program that will vastly improve the ability for old cans to be recycled and reprocessed into new ones,” said Alpa Sutaria, General Manager, Sustainability for Coca-Cola North America. “It is an honor to support a program that helps to reclaim cans and keep them off our beaches and waterways and out of landfills where they don’t belong.”
The fund ($12,000 total) will be managed by ALPAR with no administrative fees taken. The money will underwrite can crushers, from small hand-operated units to mechanized versions in villages with larger populations.
“In any given year, nearly 80 rural nonprofits and tribal entities send in 12-14 tons of UBCs for recycling through the ALPAR Flying Cans program,” said Anita Nelson, ALPAR Executive Director. “Aluminum cans are infinitely recyclable, making them a valuable commodity to recover from landfills.”
Having the right equipment will not only make the job of volunteers easier (groups are asked to crush cans prior to shipping) but provide efficient use of space when packaging the cans for recycling, Nelson said. “Having a partner of this magnitude will open the door for communities to receive matching grants to bale their cans. And baled UBCs command an even higher price per pound than loose, crushed cans.”
The majority of participants in the Flying Cans program use the money from selling UBCs to fund youth programs or support their local village environmental and recycling efforts.
Eligibility and requirements for the can-crusher grant can be found here: