EKOCYCLE™ Awards $200,000 Grants to Kick Start Multi-Family Household Recycling in the South Bronx

EKOCYCLE, will.i.am and Coca-Cola have a message for South Bronx residents: Let’s recycle together! To help reach that goal, earlier today EKOCYCLE, represented by global music artist will.i.am and The Coca-Cola Company’s Chief Sustainability Officer Bea Perez, presented a $200,000 grant to Sustainable South Bronx. The funding will be used to set up a pilot program that will help local residents recycle their household waste.

Within New York’s five boroughs, the South Bronx neighborhood has the lowest recycling rate in New York City. Through EKOCYCLE’s grant to Sustainable South Bronx the new pilot program, which launches May 20, aims to help reverse that trend.

As recycling rates continue to climb nationwide, pockets of the country still face major challenges. Recycling levels in New York City are less than half the national average (15 percent vs. 34 percent). For many neighborhood residents, recycling is complicated by multi-family dwellings or apartment buildings that do not proactively promote the practice.

“New York City is one of the greatest cities in the world, and can become an even better place to live by making it easier for residents to recycle,” said will.i.am. “By teaming up with Sustainable South Bronx and Highbridge area residents, EKOCYCLE’s mission is to help kick off this pilot recycling program and encourage residents do their part to contribute to a more sustainable city.”

EKOCYCLE – a partnership between will.i.am and Coca-Cola -- envisions a world with zero-waste. To achieve this goal, EKOCYCLE believes in making an impact beyond the lifestyle products it creates from recycled materials. Partnering with organizations that share values around recycling and recycling education is an important step in reaching that broader objective.

Sustainable South Bronx will use this funding to initiate a recycling pilot project. Through a combination of education, infrastructure and other activities, Sustainable South Bronx hopes to demonstrate how recycling can be dramatically increased in apartment buildings throughout the South Bronx. Sustainable South Bronx will work closely with the Highbridge Community Development Corporation, the non-profit organization located in the Highbridge section of the South Bronx, whose buildings will be the project’s focus.

“Residents of the South Bronx who live in large apartment buildings face numerous obstacles that make it difficult to recycle on a regular basis,” said Michael Brotchner, Executive Director of Sustainable South Bronx. “This donation from EKOCYCLE to Sustainable South Bronx will help us kick-start recycling in a set of buildings that is representative of buildings throughout the community. We think that the residents of Highbridge will be very excited to participate in this pilot project, which aims to produce concrete findings on how recycling can best be promoted in the South Bronx.”