Coke's Recycling Grants are Open

Here's the press release, unedited:

Coca-Cola and Keep America Beautiful Announce 2011 Recycling Bin Grant Program
Grants Provide Recycling Bins and Consultation for Parks, Schools, Offices, and Special Events

STAMFORD, Conn. (Feb. 14, 2011) — The Coca-Cola Company and Keep America Beautiful, Inc. (KAB) today announced the Coca-Cola/KAB Recycling Bin Grant Program, an effort designed to promote and support community recycling.

Grant recipients receive both donated recycling bins and expertise on how to set up recycling programs from Keep America Beautiful. This Bin Grant program is part of KAB’s larger Public Space initiative, an effort among KAB and its sponsors, such as Coca-Cola, to enhance the access to and convenience of recycling away from home. The grant program is also part of a $60 million investment by The Coca-Cola Company in recycling initiatives in the U.S.

“The great demand for recycling bins in public spaces reflects a growing interest in, and need for, expanded recycling access away from home,” said Matthew M. McKenna, president and CEO of Keep America Beautiful, Inc. “We’re thankful to The Coca-Cola Company for its support of this bin grant program, and the company's commitment to community recycling nationwide.”

The spring 2011 grant cycle opens today, Monday, Feb. 14. Interested parties may visit http://bingrant.org and submit an online grant application through March 18, 2011. Eligible grant recipients include government agencies, civic organizations, schools and nonprofit groups. Successful applicants will be notified on or before April 15.

Since its inception in the fall of 2007, the Bin Grant program has placed more than 16,000 recycling bins in 320 communities in 48 states and the District of Columbia. Recipients have included municipalities, colleges, Native American tribes, and community- based NGOs.

“The entire recycling process begins when a consumer chooses to put their empty beverage container in a recycle bin instead of the trash,” said John Burgess, president of Coca-Cola Recycling LLC. “Through our work with KAB to provide bins to community-based organizations, we can help raise recycling rates by making recycling more accessible to more consumers.”