Bottled water giant Nestlé Waters North America Inc. is investing millions of dollars into the Closed Loop Fund, an effort to boost recycling around the country.
Nestlé Waters will provide $6 million to the fund, which provides non-interest and low-interest loans to companies and cities to help build recycling infrastructure and create programs.
Several other well-known brands are already part of the Closed Loop Fund, including both Coke and Pepsi, Colgate-Palmolive and Procter & Gamble.
"The United States has one of the lowest recycling rates of any industrialized country, but it doesn't have to stay that way. The U.S. has an opportunity to lead the way in recycling, while creating jobs, economic growth, and a more sustainable future," says Nelson Switzer, chief sustainability officer at Nestlé Waters North America, in a statement.
"As a company, we are on a very deliberate journey toward zero landfill waste in our products and operations, so I can think of no better opportunity than working collectively to ensure these recyclable materials are transformed from garbage to the valuable resources that they are," Switzer continued.
Nestlé Waters has reduced plastic content in its bottles by more than 60 percent since 1994 through lightweighting. The company also recently indicated it now uses 50-percent recycled content in nine out of every 10 plastic bottles used by its Arrowhead Mountain Spring Water brand made in California. Arrowhead sources recycled PET from CarbonLite Industries LLC of Los Angeles.