March 4, 2014
GreenBlue’s Sustainable Packaging Coalition announced today that Honest Tea has joined its growing list of How2Recycle Label program participants. Adoption of the Label by the nation’s top selling organic bottled tea company demonstrates a commitment to reducing its environmental footprint by encouraging consumers to recycle the packaging they buy.
“National recycling rates are way too low, and we need to do whatever we can to boost them,” said co-founder and TeaEO Seth Goldman. “Providing clear information on the package is the next step in our ongoing efforts to educate and inspire people to recycle more often and in more places.” For the past two years Honest Tea has been educating tens of thousands of people across the country with its Great Recycle campaign, a series of events featuring oversized recycling bins.”
The How2Recycle Label was developed by the Sustainable Packaging Coalition (SPC) and a group of external collaborators, including government agencies, non-governmental organizations, and trade associations, to close the loop on packaging recovery by clearly communicating to consumers how to recycle a package. The Label project began development in 2008 with a soft-launch in 2012. Honest Tea’s parent-company, The Coca-Cola Company, was one of the 12 companies to participate in the soft launch with the Label appearing on Minute Maid products undergoing consumer testing.
“The soft launch phase of How2Recycle proved invaluable as we developed the final iteration of the Label that consumers now see on product packaging,” said Anne Bedarf, GreenBlue Senior Manager. “We’re excited that The Coca Cola Company, which was such an asset in the development stages of the Label, is again involved with the program through Honest Tea’s participation.”
The Honest Tea How2Recycle bottle label contains the additional language, “Empty & Replace Cap” to ensure that consumers recycle the plastic cap attached to their empty bottle, something that might come as a change to many consumers. Due to improvements in technology and markets in recent years, plastic caps are now able to be recycled with their containers, allowing for more valuable materials to be recovered and aiding in litter prevention.
Honest Tea also received a sponsorship from the American Chemistry Council’s (ACC) Flexible Film Recycling Group (FFRG) for use of the Store Drop-off Label. The Label will be on the plastic wrapping of Honest Tea beverage cases to encourage consumers to return the plastic film to a participating store drop-off location.
The How2Recycle Label Program has grown to more than 20 participating companies, and expects to welcome additional significant industry participation in the coming months.
ABOUT HOW2RECYCLE
How2Recycle is a program of GreenBlue’s Sustainable Packaging Coalition (SPC). The SPC’s goal is for the How2Recycle Label to appear on the majority of consumer goods packaging by 2016 and to provide participating companies with detailed information regarding the recyclability of their packaging. Any company interested in joining How2Recycle or obtaining a fee sponsorship should visit www.how2recycle.info/how2join and contact Anne Bedarf at anne.bedarf@greenblue.org.
Fee sponsorships remain available and are made possible through the support of the Flexible Film Recycling Group (FFRG) of the American Chemistry Council.
ABOUT GREENBLUE AND THE SUSTAINABLE PACKAGING COALITION
GreenBlue® is a nonprofit that shapes the business of sustainability. We arm the agents of change with the science and resources needed to make business more sustainable. The organization’s Sustainable Packaging Coalition® is a membership group that brings together business, educational institutions, and government agencies to collectively broaden the understanding of packaging sustainability and develop meaningful improvements for packaging solutions.
ABOUT HONEST TEA
HONEST Tea seeks to create and promote great-tasting, healthier, organic beverages and extend economic opportunities to communities in need. Founded in 1998 in Bethesda, MD, Honest Tea is the nation’s top-selling organic bottled tea company specializing in beverages that are just a tad sweet®. HONEST Tea’s product lines include: ready-to-drink bottled teas, HONEST® Ade and HONEST® Kids organic thirst quenchers, HONEST® Freshly Brewed iced tea and new HONEST® Fizz naturally sweetened zero calorie sodas. All tea, juice drinks and kids varieties are USDA Organic and all tea varieties are Fair Trade Certified™. In addition to being ranked by The Huffington Post as one of the leading “8 Revolutionary Socially Responsible Companies,” HONEST Tea is a multi-year winner of awards from the Alliance for Workplace Excellence. HONEST Tea has won Men’s Health “Best Green Tea” for five years running and in 2012 was named one of Women’s Health magazine’s “125 Best Packaged Foods for Women.” HONEST Tea is an independent operating unit of The Coca-Cola Company. For more information: www.honesttea.com.
