| FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE November 10, 1998 |
Contacts: Bill Sheehan (706) 613-7121 or Lance King (703) 241-4927 |
Borrowing the America Recycles Day Theme, Protesters DeliverGiant "Buy Recycled" Pledge Form to Coke Headquarters
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ATLANTA, GA - Groups challenging Coca-Cola Chairman Douglas Ivester to take back billions of plastic Coke bottles each year to make new bottles delivered a giant "buy recycled" pledge form to the company's worldwide headquarters today (at 10:30 AM EST). "Hundreds of thousands of Americans are signing a pledge this week to purchase recycled products, to celebrate America Recycles Day on November 15. Most consumers are surprised to learn that the world's soft drink industry leader, Coca-Cola, refuses to use recycled plastic to make soda bottles in the United States," GrassRoots Recycling Network spokesman Bill Sheehan said at a noon-time rally in Athens, Georgia. "We are asking consumers to mail back empty plastic soda bottles to Coke Chairman Ivester as a protest, with the simple message 'take it back and use it again' printed on a mailing label," Dr. Sheehan, GRRN network coordinator, said on behalf of 81 organizations and leaders in 26 states supporting the recently launched campaign. "Georgia Sierra Club representative Bob Woodall delivered a giant "buy recycled" pledge form (3 and ½ feet by 7 feet) to Ivester at Coke's world headquarters in Atlanta, following a 10:30 AM news conference outside the company's main gate. "Coca-Cola sells 20 million sodas every day in the United States in plastic bottles, without using a single ounce of recycled plastic. It is time for Coke to take responsibility for the billions of plastic bottles wasted every year. As Coke uses more and more plastic, it is undermining plastics recycling," Bob Woodall said. "A voluntary pledge to use recycled plastic is the first step toward reducing plastic soda bottle waste in the United States. Plastic soda bottle recycling rates have dropped for 3 years in a row, due in large part to Coke's abandoning the use of recycled plastic and increasing use of single use plastic bottles," Woodall said. "Plastic soft drink bottle recycling rates peaked at 50 percent in 1994 and dropped to 36 percent in 1997. While certain industries incorporate used soda bottle plastic into a host of products, 64 percent of all used soda bottles became waste or litter last year -- largely because Coke refuses to "close the loop" by taking them back and using them again. "Our campaign is about manufacturing responsibility. Recycling works through a partnership. More than 100 million Americans do their part every day by sorting bottles, cans, paper and other materials. Communities are doing their part through curbside and drop-off programs. But companies like Coke have backed away from commitments to use recycled materials," Rick Best, chairman of the GRRN Steering Committee and policy director for the Sacramento-based Californians Against Waste (CAW) said today in a prepared statement. CAW has more than 21,000 members in California and is planning a protest event later this week in Sacramento. "Coke and Pepsi announced plans in December 1990 to start using 25 percent recycled plastic in new soda bottles. Both companies chose a costly and inefficient process in the United States. Cost-effective technologies developed over the last several years and approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration. "We are targeting Coke because it is the industry leader with 44 percent of the U.S. market. Coke uses recycled plastic in soda bottles in a number of other countries. But the soft drink industry leader refuses to take responsibility for its waste," Best said. "Plastic Coke bottles generated 400 million pounds of waste in 1997. Disposing of these plastic Coke bottles costs taxpayers and local governments millions of dollars annually for litter cleanup, landfill disposal and incineration. "From an environmental perspective, the waste of billions of plastic Coke bottles means that more toxic waste is created to make new plastic, and non- renewable resources are wasted," Georgia Sierra Club's Bob Woodall said in Atlanta. "Coke so far refuses to address our concerns, which is why the national protest is being waged. Events are being conducted across the nation this week as part of the 2nd America Recycles Day on November 15," Best said. "Protest events are planned from November 10 to November 15 in: Athens and Atlanta, Georgia; Boulder, Colorado; New Orleans, Louisiana; Sacramento, California; Philadelphia, Pennsylvania; Arlington, Virginia; Bloomington, Illinois; San Francisco, California; Andover, Massachusetts; and, Eugene, Oregon. A complete list of dates, times, locations, and local contacts is available to news media upon request. ### COKE - TAKE IT BACK! Campaign Endorsements as of November 9, 199881 Organizations and Leaders in 26 States and the District of Columbia |
State Organization/Leader City Contact
CA Berkeley Ecology Center Berkeley Cathy Hutton CA California Resource Recovery Association Sacramento Anne Schneider CA Californians Against Waste Sacramento Rick Best CA Earth Island Institute San Francisco Dave Phillips CA Ecology Action, Inc. Santa Cruz Mahlon Aldridge CA Garbage Reincarnation Santa Rosa Henry Kaku CA Global Waste Recycling West Covina Judi Gregory CA J. Edwards & Associates, Inc. Los Angeles Joan Edwards CA Richard Anthony Associates San Diego Rick Anthony CA Sierra Club California Waste Committee * La Jolla Jeanne Davies CA Total Recycling Association Oakland Arthur Boone CA University California San Diego Recycling* San Diego Krista Henkels CA Urban Ore, Inc. Richmond Dan Knapp CA Zero Waste Institute Watsonville Steve Suess CO Boulder County Recycling & Composting* Boulder Jeff Callahan CO Colorado Public Interest Research Group Denver Rich McClintock CO Eco-Cycle, Inc. Boulder Eric Lombardi CO Global Response Boulder CO Recycle The Park Park County Melanie Trent CO Student Environmental Action Coalition Boulder DC Friends of the Earth Washington Sarah Newport DC Institute for Local Self-Reliance Washington Neil Seldman DC Materials Efficiency Project Washington John Young FL Sierra Club Florida Suwanee-St. Johns Group Gainesville Dwight Adams GA Action for a Clean Environment Alto Adele Kushner GA Alternatives in Action! Nicholson Ginger Dollar GA Atlanta Bicycle Campaign Atlanta John Walsh GA Communtiy Recycling, Inc. Atlanta John Fyfe GA Friends of Georgia Dawsonville John Geiger GA Georgia Container Recycling Network Atlanta Stacy Fenn GA Georgia Rural-Urban Summit Decatur Danny Levitas GA Georgians For a Bottle Bill Atlanta Bob Woodall GA Glynn Environmental Coalition St. Simons Is. Gary Drury GA GrassRoots Recycling Network Athens Bill Sheehan GA Sierra Club Georgia Chapter Dahlonega Larry Winslett GA Students for Environmental Awareness Athens Tara Harned GA USPIRG Atlanta Robert Pregulman IA Spectrum Recycling Decorah Heidi Swets IL Chicago Recycling Coalition* Chicago Mehrdad Azemun IL Greenpeace U.S. Toxics Campaign Chicago Charlie Cray IL Student Environmental Action Coalition Bloomington Eric Huddleston IL Environmental Law Society, U. of Chicago Law School Dan Johnson-Weinberger LA St. John Citizens for Environmental Justice LaPlace Shay Clark LA Tulane University Green Club New Orleans Alicia Lyttle MA Andover Recycling Committee Andover Anne Wein MA Clean Water Alliance of Massachusetts Boston Lee Ketelson MA Recycling Initiative Campaign Boston Vivien Watts MD Community Resources Baltimore Dennis Livingston MD Infinity Recycling, Inc. Chestertown R. Ford Schumann, Jr. MI Flowerfield Enterprises Kalamazoo Mary Appelhof MN Recycling Program Coordinator * Winona Anne Morse MT Native Forest Network Missoula Jake Kreilick NC Anson County CACTUS Wadesboro Denise Lee NC Blue Ridge Environmental Defense League Glendale Springs Janet &Lou Zeller NC KirkWorks Durham David Kirkpatrick NC Rural Recycling Institute Burlington Jack Martin NJ Monmouth Co. Planning Board -SW/Recycling * Freehold Marty Reisinger NJ Variety Drug Garfield John Gunia NM New Mexico Public Interest Research Group Albuquerque Jeanne Bassett NY Marjorie J. Clarke New York Marjorie Clarke NY NY Public Interest Research Group Albany Judith Enck NY Trinidad and Tobago International Brooklyn Horace Morancie NY Waste Not Canton Paul & Ellen Connett OR BRING Recycling Eugene Sarah Grimm OR Campus Recycling* Eugene Karyn Kaplan OR Steve Apotheker Portland Steve Apotheker PA Clean Air Council Philadelphia Britta Ipri PA Creative Artists' Resource Project Philadelphia C. David Hall-Cotrill RI Clean Water Action of Rhode Island Providence Aimee Tavares SC Dianne Beasley Belton Dianne Beasley TN BURNT Nashville Bruce Wood TN Foundation for Global Sustainability Knoxville Samantha Pearson TN Sierra Club Tennessee* Rockwood Mary Lynn Dobson TX Green Guy San Marcos Andrew Schroyer VA Container Recycling Institute Arlington Pat Franklin VA Livewell Environmental Designs & Resources Arlington Lance King VA Sierra Club Virginia Chapter Fairfax Roger Diedrich WA Full Circle Environmental, Inc. Seattle David Stitzhal WA Sound Resource Management Seattle Jeffrey Morris WI City of Madison Recycling* Madison George Dreckmann WI Sierra Club Wisconsin River Country Group Edgar Richard Wentzel * organization for indentification purposes only |
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