Anheuser-Busch Recycling Celebrates 30 Years

ST. LOUIS – Oct. 31, 2008 -- To celebrate Anheuser-Busch Recycling’s 30th anniversary, the company developed a number of initiatives, including a new Web site—www.powerofrecycling.com—where visitors can learn more about the importance of recycling and how to create recycling programs in their communities, the company stated.

Anheuser-Busch Recycling is also distributing thousands of recycling bins to Anheuser-Busch (A-B) wholesalers across the country to assist in local recycling projects.

The company launched its recycling efforts in 1978, and since then, has kept the equivalent of more than 460 billion aluminum beverage containers out of landfills across the United States, according to A-B.

"When we first started, our mission was to help create an aluminum can recycling infrastructure by working with the company’s wholesalers across the country," Trevor Hansen, vice president of Anheuser-Busch Recycling, said in a statement. "We purchased and provided each wholesaler can processing equipment and helped set them up as centers to purchase cans from the general public."

As recycling cans became popular in the mid 1980s, the scrap industry became interested in purchasing cans and A-B transferred the can processing equipment from its wholesalers to new partners in the scrap recycling industry, the company stated. More than 700 suppliers still have equipment purchased by the company and use it to process and then sell it directly back to Anheuser-Busch Recycling.

"Basically, we purchase bundles of aluminum cans from our suppliers and ship them to our aluminum smelting and processing facilities that produce aluminum sheet for can making," explained Hansen.

Anheuser-Busch Recycling also encourages and promotes recycling through numerous programs, including the Recycle Challenge program, where schools earn money from recycled cans to purchase school supplies, and offering beverage container collection at large venues and events such as the Daytona 500, Sturgis Bike Week and LPGA/PGA TOUR tournaments.

"We’re proud of the fact that we’ve helped millions of consumers get involved in recycling and increased their awareness of our environment," Hansen said. "Our employees have become recycling experts and enjoy working with local communities to develop creative solutions and educational programs. We try to show people that we can each make a difference for the environment by recycling, even if it is only one can at a time."
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