Dow teams up with Keep America Beautiful to launch grand program to increase plastic recycling

The Dow Chemical Company has teamed up with US nonprofit organization, Keep America Beautiful, to award two US$50,000 grants for organizations to establish Hefty EnergyBag programs in their communities.

The program aims to diverting traditionally non-recycled plastics – like chip bags and juice pouches – from landfills and converting the materials into valuable energy sources. It is open to municipalities, non-profits, materials recovery facilities, and other qualifying organizations through September 1.

Dow will provide grant recipients with the blueprint to develop a successful Hefty EnergyBag program and will facilitate planning and implementation. Recipients will ultimately manage the programs and solicit involvement of key community stakeholders.

"The Hefty EnergyBag program demonstrates Dow's commitment to advancing a circular economy, a pillar of our 2025 Sustainability Goals," said Neil Hawkins, Chief Sustainability Officer for Dow. "In partnership with Keep America Beautiful, these grants will enable the growth of this important initiative and show the power of a collaborative blueprint for reducing landfill waste and waste released to the environment, two critical global priorities."

The grant program will be funded through Dow's Global Citizenship Impact Fund, which provides financial resources for business-aligned global citizenship initiatives focused on three key impact areas: access to clean drinking water, packaging to prevent food waste, and post-consumer waste management.

"The Hefty EnergyBag program is a true proof point for our efforts to redefine the role of business in society,” said Diego Donoso, Business President for Dow Packaging and Specialty Plastics. "By sharing knowledge and resources with communities, we are enabling grant recipients to develop sustainable Hefty EnergyBag programs in their backyards – a crucial step as we look to scale the initiative across the country."

The first full-scale Hefty EnergyBag program was launched in Omaha, the US in September 2016 and has since expanded from 6,000 to 8,500 households. As of June 2017, the Omaha program has collected more than 13,000 bags of previously non-recycled plastics, diverting more than six tons of waste previously destined for landfills.