Dr Pepper Snapple Group (DPS), Plano, Texas, announced it will work with industry, government and community partners in order to achieve a U.S. beverage container recycling rate of 60 percent by 2030, the company says. As part of this commitment, the company is entering into a new partnership with Close Loop Fund while maintaining its collaboration with Keep America Beautiful to improve access to recycling across the country, it adds.

DPS is investing $5 million in the New York-based Closed Loop Fund during the next 10 years and joins a growing number of businesses supporting efforts to improve post-consumer recycling, it says. The company also is extending its relationship with Stamford, Conn.-based Keep America Beautiful through a new three-year, $1 million commitment primarily to continue efforts to place recycling bins in public parks, it adds.

"Making a meaningful and sustainable reduction in the amount of plastic and other recyclable material in the waste stream requires convenient options for consumers to recycle as well as the capacity to process those materials at the community level," said Kelly Smith, director of government affairs and sustainability at DPS, in a statement. "Our investment in the Closed Loop Fund and our continuing partnership with Keep America Beautiful give us a way to address both of those needs and put us on the path toward achieving a substantial increase in the container recycling rate over the long term."

Established in 2014 as a social impact investment fund, the Closed Loop Fund will invest $100 million during the next 10 years via zero-interest loans to cities and below market loans to companies for recycling infrastructure to improve the market for single-stream expansion and modernization by maximizing recycling profitability, it adds.

"Closed Loop Fund members are collectively acting to make significant investments that will improve recycling, save taxpayer money, create jobs and support the environment at scale across the United States," said Rob Kaplan, managing director of the Closed Loop Fund, in a statement.  "DPS is joining an elite group of corporate recycling leaders, and we are thrilled they are the first new investor in 2016. Their commitment and expertise will add great value to our team and communities around the country."

Since its launch in 2013, the DPS/Keep America Beautiful Park Recycling Bin Grant partnership has supplied more than 2,500 recycling bins to expand access to recycling away from home while helping beautify a variety of park settings, including neighborhood and larger regional parks, beaches, athletic fields and walking trails, DPS says. During the next three years, through the new agreement, DPS and Keep America Beautiful have set a goal to add 4,000 more bins, it adds.

"We're excited once again to partner with Dr Pepper Snapple to award recycling bins to support on-the-go recycling in communities across the country," said Brenda Pulley, senior vice president of recycling for Keep America Beautiful. "One of the biggest obstacles to recycling is the lack of convenience, and these bins help solve that problem in the parks and public spaces enjoyed each year by millions."

DPS' participation in the Closed Loop Fund and its work with Keep America Beautiful expand on its efforts to reduce the amount of packaging material that winds up in landfills, and through package lightweighting initiatives, DPS has removed more than 75 million pounds of plastic from the waste stream, it says. In addition, the company recycles more than 85 percent of the solid waste generated by its manufacturing operations and is working to increase the rate through continuous improvement, it adds.