Dr Pepper Snapple Group and Keep America Beautiful Now Accepting Applications for 2016 Park Recycling Bin Grant Program

News provided by

Dr Pepper Snapple Group; Keep America Beautiful

May 03, 2016, 04:05 ET

STAMFORD, Conn., May 3, 2016 /PRNewswire/ -- With more beverages being consumed away from home and on-the-go, it's increasingly important to make recycling more convenient by providing more away-from-home opportunities to recycle. The Dr Pepper Snapple Group/Keep America Beautiful Park Recycling Bin Grant Program – which opened its 2016 application process this week – does just that.

Now in its fourth year, the grant program from Dr Pepper Snapple Group (NYSE:DPS) and Keep America Beautiful has awarded more than 2,500 recycling bins to local governments and community organizations across 33 states to expand the availability of recycling in a variety of park settings, including neighborhood and larger regional parks, beaches, athletic fields and walking trails.

To apply for the merit-based grant program, interested organizations and communities complete an online form, detailing their proposal and selecting the number and style of recycling bin from a pre-set selection of options. Keep America Beautiful will competitively review and award grants based on need and likelihood to recover significant quantities of recyclables. Preference will also be given to applicants that agree to match the grant by purchasing additional recycling bins at a discounted cost. Arrangements will be made to deliver the recycling bins directly to the grant recipients in September 2016. Applications are open for submission at irecycleonthego.wordpress.com through June 10, 2016.

"The Dr Pepper Snapple Group/Keep America Beautiful Park Recycling Bin Grant Program continues to be a win-win for communities and the environment," said Vicki Draughn, vice president of corporate affairs for Dr Pepper Snapple Group. "People can enjoy cleaner public places with their friends and families while helping reduce the material collected away from the home that heads to landfills."

The lack of away-from-home recycling opportunities is reflected in a recent national survey Keep America Beautiful conducted addressing which locations people normally recycle. While 92 percent said they recycled at home, only 19 percent indicated that they typically recycle in public parks. Additional research conducted by Keep America Beautiful indicated only 12 percent of surveyed public locations had recycling infrastructure in place to recover the containers. The Dr Pepper Snapple Group/Keep America Beautiful Park Recycling Bin Grant Program is designed to address the dual obstacles of overcoming lack of recycling convenience.

"Convenience is one of the key factors in making recycling a daily habit and an expected social norm," said Brenda Pulley, senior vice president/recycling, Keep America Beautiful. "Our partnership with Dr Pepper Snapple Group is helping make public parks cleaner, greener and more beautiful simply by making opportunities to recycle easier."

In addition to improving recycling opportunities, the grant program will make additional funds available to Keep America Beautiful community-based affiliates or other grant recipients who commit to conducting a Litter Index in conjunction with the grant to help study the effects of the recycling bins to reduce litter in the immediate areas of the bins. Read more about Keep America Beautiful's efforts to End Littering in America, Improve Recycling in America, and Beautify America's Communities at http://www.kab.org.

About Keep America Beautiful
At Keep America Beautiful, we want to ensure that beauty is our lasting signature. A leading national nonprofit, Keep America Beautiful inspires and educates people to take action every day to improve and beautify their community environment. We envision a country where every community is a clean, green, and beautiful place to live. Established in 1953, Keep America Beautiful provides the expertise, programs and resources to help people End Littering, Improve Recycling, and Beautify America's Communities. The organization is driven by the work and passion of more than 600 community-based Keep America Beautiful affiliates, millions of volunteers, and the support of corporate partners, municipalities, elected officials, and individuals. To learn how you can donate or take action, visit kab.org. Follow us on Twitter and Instagram, like us on Facebook, or view us on YouTube.

About Dr Pepper Snapple Group
Dr Pepper Snapple Group (NYSE: DPS) is a leading producer of flavored beverages in North America and the Caribbean. Our success is fueled by more than 50 brands that are synonymous with refreshment, fun and flavor. We have 6 of the top 10 non-cola soft drinks, and 13 of our 14 leading brands are No. 1 or No. 2 in their flavor categories. In addition to our flagship Dr Pepper and Snapple brands, our portfolio includes 7UP, A&W, Canada Dry, Clamato, Crush, Hawaiian Punch, Mott's, Mr & Mrs T mixers, Peñafiel, Rose's, Schweppes, Squirt and Sunkist soda. To learn more about our iconic brands and Plano, Texas-based company, please visit DrPepperSnapple.com. For our latest news and updates, follow us at Facebook.com/DrPepperSnapple or Twitter.com/DrPepperSnapple. For more information on DPS's philanthropic efforts and sustainability goals, visit www.dpsgsustainability.com.