Goldman Fund Grant
In February CRI received a generous grant from the Goldman Fund (CA) for a two-part project. One component of this grant will be a study of the quality of materials delivered to processing facilities from single stream collections.
As recycling gains more ground as a tool to help address climate change, more communities are looking for affordable collection options. “Single Stream” collection, where all recyclables are co-mingled in one receptacle and then re-sorted at a specially designed MRF, is being hailed as that affordable solution. Unfortunately, in many cases, single stream simply shifts the costs from the collection phase to the processing phase. In addition, higher contamination wastes valuable recyclables that are sent to the wrong processing facility.
Why does this matter for beverage container recycling? We are seeing many campaigns to adopt or update container deposit legislation being distracted by the argument that single stream is a more modern way to collect all recyclables, including beverage containers. The most vocal cheerleaders for single stream recycling are opponents of CDL, most notably the grocery lobby.
The second phase of the grant will allow us to produce and share our signature research document, the “Beverage Market Data Analysis.” Because this analysis is expensive to produce, we have in prior years been forced to recoup some of our expenses by selling these BMDAs for a modest fee. We believe that more policymakers and advocates will be motivated to launch campaigns to address beverage container waste when they are armed with the facts.
The BMDA clearly demonstrates the magnitude of beverage container waste on a state-by-state basis, making it a uniquely valuable tool. Through the Goldman Fund’s generosity, CRI will now be able to disseminate this information to a wider audience and we will be able to broadly publicize the availability and value of our BMDA. Many readers of Container and Packaging Recycling Update have used our BMDAs in years past.
We anticipate that this latest edition, reflecting 2006 data (the most recent available) will be available by August 1.
To receive a copy, call us at 202-263-0999 or email us at recycle@container-recycling.org with “2006 BMDA” in the subject line.
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