Calle Ocho Recycles with Coca-Cola
Coca-Cola Leads Recycling, Education Effort at World Famous Street Festival
MIAMI--(BUSINESS WIRE)-- What happens when you combine the world's favorite sparkling beverage, one million people, 200 recycling bins and the largest street festival in the United States in one of the hottest cities in America? For Calle Ocho, you get one of the most intensive recycling efforts in South Florida. On March 15, Coca-Cola Recycling will join the Kiwanis Club of Little Havana to create a recycling initiative at this year's Calle Ocho in Miami and generate greater awareness about recycling among consumers.
"Coca-Cola is committed to meeting its goal of recycling and reusing 100 percent of the bottles and cans it produces in the U.S.," said Alejandro Gomez, multicultural marketing manager, southeast region, Coca-Cola North America. "We are thrilled to join forces with the Kiwanis Club to bring recycling to Calle Ocho and help us meet our goal. Calle Ocho is an amazing event where people can have fun, enjoy a Coke and celebrate life while recycling one bottle at a time."
Coca-Cola Recycling will place 200 recycling bins along the event route for attendees to recycle their aluminum cans and PET plastic beverage bottles. In addition, Coca-Cola Recycling will have an interactive recycling station designed to educate the community about the importance of recycling. Volunteers at the recycling station will provide giveaways to festival goers who visit the station to recycle their beverage containers. Giveaways will include coupons for a free 20-ounce Coca-Cola product that can be redeemed at participating retailers.
As an extra incentive, a "Caught Red Handed" program will be employed at the 8th minute of every hour. Two lucky people who get caught recycling will receive a backstage pass for the Coca-Cola Stage entitling them to attend the Coca-Cola VIP area, meet some of the artists and experience Calle Ocho Coca-Cola style.
"Coca-Cola has been a valued partner of Calle Ocho for more than 30 years," said Ricardo Gonzalez, president of the Kiwanis Club of Little Havana. "Calle Ocho is the crown jewel of all Hispanic celebrations in the U.S. and we are excited to be working with Coca-Cola to help educate festival goers on the importance of recycling."
Waste Services of Florida, Inc. (WSI), a multi-regional, integrated solid waste services company, will play a crucial role in these efforts by collecting the recycled materials and transporting them back to their facility for processing.
"With two hundred barrels in place, we have the opportunity to recover a significant number of used beverage containers," said Mike Tewey, district manager, WSI. "I'm confident that South Florida residents will take advantage of this opportunity to reduce waste and recycle these valuable resources."
In January, Coca-Cola opened the world's largest plastic bottle-to-bottle recycling plant in Spartanburg, S.C. and launched a multi-million dollar marketing effort supporting recycling called "Give it Back." The "Give it Back" program is designed to remind consumers that Coca-Cola bottles and cans are valuable recyclables.
Calle Ocho
"El Festival de la Calle Ocho," as it is known to many, is a 16-city block event that closes down S.W. 8th Street from 11th to 27th Avenue in Little Havana. Ethnic food kiosks line the north and south sides of the street while intersecting avenues showcase musical stages featuring top recording artists and groups featuring merengue, salsa, pop, reggeton, and Caribbean music.
About Coca-Cola Recycling LLC
Based in Atlanta, Coca-Cola Recycling is dedicated to recovering and recycling packaging materials used in North America - including polyethylene terephthalate (PET) plastic, aluminum, cardboard and plastic film. Coca-Cola Recycling is working to recover and recycle the equivalent of 100 percent of the packaging produced by the Coca-Cola system in North America.
About Coca-Cola Enterprises
Coca-Cola Enterprises Inc. (CCE) is the world's largest marketer, distributor and producer of bottled and can liquid non alcoholic refreshment. Coca-Cola Enterprises sells approximately 80 percent of The Coca-Cola Company's bottle and can volume in North America and is the sole licensed bottler for products of The Coca-Cola Company in Belgium, continental France, Great Britain, Luxembourg, Monaco and the Netherlands.
About The Coca-Cola Company
The Coca-Cola Company is the world's largest beverage company, refreshing consumers with nearly 500 sparkling and still brands. Along with Coca-Cola, recognized as the world's most valuable brand, the Company's portfolio includes 12 other billion dollar brands, including Diet Coke, Fanta, Sprite, Coca-Cola Zero, vitaminwater, POWERADE, Minute Maid and Georgia Coffee. Globally, we are the No. 1 provider of sparkling beverages, juices and juice drinks and ready-to-drink teas and coffees. Through the world's largest beverage distribution system, consumers in more than 200 countries enjoy the Company's beverages at a rate of nearly 1.6 billion servings a day. With an enduring commitment to building sustainable communities, our Company is focused on initiatives that protect the environment, conserve resources and enhance the economic development of the communities where we operate. For more information about our Company, please visit our Web site at www.thecoca-colacompany.com.
Source: The Coca-Cola Company
Released February 27, 2009