Date: October 16, 2007
Source: RecycleBank
RecycleBank Teams Up with New England Municipalities and Retailers to Boost Recycling
Incentive-Driven Innovator Begins Expansion of Recycling Rewards Program to Households in the Northeast; Shaw's Among First Regional Retailers to Sign Up
RecycleBank(TM), a rewards program that motivates people to recycle, announced today that it has expanded its service area to now include municipalities throughout New England. This is the beginning of RecycleBank's expansion to the Northeast.
RecycleBank motivates households and communities to recycle by financially rewarding each household for the amount they've recycled. RecycleBank's proprietary technology measures the amount of material recycled and then converts the amount into RecycleBank Points that can be used at hundreds of local and national RecycleBank Reward Partners.
RecycleBank's expansion into New England is just the beginning of the company's plan to rollout across the United States. RecycleBank will be launching service to additional households in upstate New York and Vermont within the next few months. The New England communities that are now participating in the RecycleBank program are Southbridge, Sturbridge, Charlton, Webster, Dudley and Leicester, Mass.
The RecycleBank program is being welcomed into New England by many local and national retailers that have already pledged to team up with RecycleBank as reward partners. Shaw's was one of the very first regional retailers that signed on as a reward partner. Shaw's sees the value of partnering with RecycleBank because of its proven environmental and economical recycling initiatives.
"Shaw's is a leader in the supermarket industry when it comes to innovative environmental programs for energy conservation, recycling and other green efforts," said Larry Wahlstrom, president of Shaw's. "By partnering with RecycleBank, we are taking it one step further by rewarding our customers for recycling and helping preserve the environment."
Currently, RecycleBank's pipeline of reward partners consists of more than 300 local and national retailers. Reward partners in the New England area such as Coca-Cola, Dunkin' Donuts and Dick's Sporting Goods are already seeing the benefits of partnering with RecycleBank. RecycleBank's long-term connection with households enables reward partners to recognize the vast and unique marketing opportunities working with an environmentally conscious company like RecycleBank.
"RecycleBank aims to bring a profit-driven solution to recycling efforts for communities," said Ron Gonen, CEO of RecycleBank. "As the company looks to expand nationwide, we eagerly welcome new communities, waste haulers and reward partners that emulate our vision to make recycling efforts financially profitable and easy for all involved."
About RecycleBank
RecycleBank is a rewards program that motivates people to recycle. It does this by quickly and easily measuring the amount of material each home recycles and then converting that activity into RecycleBank Points that can be used at hundreds of local and national rewards partners. RecycleBank is simple to implement, market-driven and proven to work, saving municipalities' money and rewarding citizens for their environmental stewardship. RRE Ventures and Sigma Partners are the largest institutional shareholder group and Ron Gonen, the co-founder and CEO is the largest individual shareholder. Visit www.recyclebank.com for more information.
About Shaw's
Shaw's, Osco and Star Market are a division of SUPERVALU INC. Throughout the six New England states, there are more than 200 store locations employing approximately 29,000 associates. SUPERVALU INC. is one of the largest companies in the United States grocery channel with 2,500 retail grocery locations holding leading market positions. SUPERVALU also provides distribution and related logistics support services to more than 5,000 grocery retail endpoints across the country. SUPERVALU currently has approximately 200,000 employees. For more information, please visit www.shaws.com or www.supervalu.com.
Contact:
Press:
Articulate Communications Inc.
Kate Corcoran, 212-255-0080, ext. 18
kcorcoran@articulatepr.com
or
Shaw's
Judy Chong, 508-313-3318
Judy.Chong@shaws.com
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October 10, 2007 08:30 AM (EDT)
Coca-Cola Invests $2 Million in Innovative Recycling Program RecycleBank
Beverage Company's Investment to Help Bolster Environmental Efforts and Motivate Households to Recycle
RecycleBank™, a rewards program that motivates people to recycle, announced today that Coca-Cola has invested $2 million in the company to help enable RecycleBank to expand nationwide. The investment is part of a larger relationship with RecycleBank to increase curbside recycling rates in the United States.
RecycleBank motivates households and communities to recycle by financially rewarding each household for the amount they've recycled. RecycleBank's proprietary technology measures the amount of material recycled and then converts the amount into RecycleBank Points that can be used at hundreds of local and national reward partners.
"Through our additional investment in RecycleBank, we are fulfilling our commitment to advance economically viable approaches to recycling collection in the communities we serve," said Scott Vitters, director of sustainable packaging, The Coca-Cola Company. "We believe this program will revolutionize the way consumers view their trash, from disposables to valuable reusables."
RecycleBank's long-term connection with households enables reward partners like Coca-Cola to recognize the vast and unique marketing opportunities in RecycleBank. More than 300 local and national businesses have partnered with RecycleBank in order to reach the households that RecycleBank services.
Last year, RecycleBank and Coca-Cola formed the RecycleBank Donations Program. The program enables households to donate their RecycleBank Points to the Ocean Conservancy, a nonprofit organization committed to clean water issues and the RecycleBank Green Schools program which helps fund environmental initiatives at schools in RecycleBank areas. Coca-Cola pledged to match dollar for RecycleBank Point that was donated. Based on the success of the RecycleBank Donations Program in 2006, Coca-Cola has reconfirmed its commitment for another year long partnership to continue to sponsor these programs.
"Coca-Cola believed in RecycleBank when it was just an entrepreneur's vision and has continued to support us since our launch," said Ron Gonen, CEO of RecycleBank. "We are proud that our relationship continues to deepen with Coca-Cola as we work together on a number of activities to promote a more sustainable business community and to scale RecycleBank nationally."
Following Coca-Cola's investment, RRE Ventures and Sigma Partners remain as the largest institutional shareholder group and Ron Gonen, the co-founder and CEO, remains as the largest individual shareholder. RecycleBank currently provides service in New Jersey, Delaware and Pennsylvania and will be launching service nationally in 2008.
About RecycleBank
RecycleBank is a rewards program that motivates people to recycle. It does this by quickly and easily measuring the amount of material each home recycles and then converting that activity into RecycleBank Points that can be used at hundreds of local and national rewards partners. RecycleBank is simple to implement, market-driven and proven to work, saving municipalities' money and rewarding citizens for their environmental stewardship. RRE Ventures and Sigma Partners are the largest institutional shareholder group and Ron Gonen, the co-founder and CEO is the largest individual shareholder. Visit www.recyclebank.com for more information.
About The Coca-Cola Company
The Coca-Cola Company is the world's largest nonalcoholic beverage company. Along with Coca-Cola, recognized as the world's most valuable brand, the Company markets four of the world's top five nonalcoholic sparkling beverage brands, including the Diet Coke, Fanta and Sprite brands, and a wide range of other beverages, including diet and light beverages, waters, juices and juice drinks, teas, coffees, energy and sports drinks. Through the world's largest beverage distribution system, consumers in more than 200 countries enjoy the Company's beverages at a rate exceeding 1.4 billion servings each day. For more information about The Coca-Cola Company, please visit our website at www.thecoca-colacompany.com.
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