May 2025
F
lorida Legislature Unanimously Passes HB 295 – A Landmark Step Toward Modernizing Florida’s Recycling Efforts
The Florida Legislature has taken a major step toward strengthening the state’s recycling and waste reduction efforts. HB 295 – Comprehensive Waste Reduction and Recycling Plan, sponsored by Representative Joe Casello, passed unanimously in both the Florida House and Senate, signaling strong bipartisan support for environmental progress.
Under the new legislation, the Florida Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) is tasked with developing a comprehensive statewide waste reduction and recycling plan by July 1, 2026. This forward-thinking plan will be guided by minimum criteria outlined in the bill and will be shaped through collaboration with a Technical Advisory Group (TAG) convened by DEP.
The legislation also directs DEP to submit a final report on the plan to the President of the Senate and the Speaker of the House of Representatives, ensuring legislative oversight and accountability in the process.
This landmark bill builds on the groundwork laid by the Florida Recycling Partnership Foundation, which organized a statewide workgroup to examine opportunities to enhance Florida’s recycling rate. The workgroup submitted a series of detailed recommendations to DEP—many of which were incorporated into the initial report submitted to the Legislature and will now be formally evaluated and updated by the new TAG.
With HB 295, Florida is taking a data-driven, collaborative approach to improving recycling outcomes, reducing waste, and paving the way for sustainable environmental stewardship.
Recycling Helps Protect Our Environment
Recycling is more than just a responsible habit; it’s a vital practice for the future of our environment. This is a particularly timely topic, as Americans throw away 25 percent more trash between Thanksgiving and New Year’s than any other time of the year. In today’s rapidly industrializing global marketplace, the consumption of resources is accelerating at an unprecedented rate. Without the widespread commitment to robust recycling programs, the planet’s natural resources could be depleted, contributing to environmental degradation and the acceleration of climate change. Recycling offers a practical solution to these challenges by promoting material circularity, reducing greenhouse gas emissions, and preserving natural resources.
Member News
Orange County Public Schools Receive $3,500 Grant from Beverage Industry to Improve Recycling in High Schools
Orange County, Fla. – Orange County Public Schools (OCPS) has been awarded a $3,500 grant from the Florida Beverage Association and the American Beverage Foundation for a Healthy America to improve recycling access in their high schools.
Funds will go towards the installation of “bottles only” recycling bins at several high school cafeterias across OCPS, scaling to all 22 high schools to reach 61,000 students. OCPS will also develop educational materials such as posters, signs and videos to raise awareness of the new opportunity to recycle.
“Our industry is working hard to improve recycling of our valuable containers, including our PET plastic bottles.” said Elizabeth DeWitt, president & CEO of the Florida Beverage Association. “Supporting our local community, and particularly our youth, is a critical part of that effort and we’re thrilled to play a role.”
These bins are estimated to capture 70,000 plastic bottles annually, keeping them out of the environment or the local landfill, and will encourage better recycling habits in the county.
“We’re incredibly grateful for this grant,” said David Klawitter, sustainability manager at OCPS. “This grant will allow us to bring recycling into cafeterias, capture more plastic bottles and get closer to our goal of diverting 75% of our solid waste from landfill by 2030.”
Anheuser-Busch is well-known for producing beer for generations of customers around the world. But the brewer has reached a landmark that many are not so familiar with: shipping emergency drinking water.
Anheuser-Busch produced its 100-millionth can of emergency drinking water in recent days. That tradition has helped provide comfort and survival for victims of disasters, and has a long history that reaches right to Florida.
In 1960, Anheuser-Busch began producing drinking water to help victims of a hurricane in Florida. Hurricane Donna struck the Florida Keys 65 years ago. A project to help those victims is what prompted Anheuser-Busch to get into emergency water production right after that storm hit the island chain.
“Anheuser-Busch responded by canning 500 cases of emergency drinking water overnight and shipping them from Miami the following morning. As soon as our Anheuser-Busch plant manager and South Florida wholesaler partner realized the brewery’s tap line could be temporarily used to can water, ‘Operation Water’ was born, starting a tradition of tapping our local facilities and brewery networks across the country to quickly act during a crisis,” an Anheuser-Busch news release said.
That tradition was carried through last year’s hurricane season, when Anheuser-Busch provided canned drinking water to Sarasota and Manatee counties after Hurricane Helene. The company also delivered relief water to residents of the Big Bend area after Hurricane Debby.
Initially, drinking water production was sporadic for the brewing company. Then in the 1970s, the cans of emergency drinking water became a routine production element of Anheuser-Busch. The 100-millionth can rolled out of the brewer’s facilities at Fort Collins, Colorado, in April.
In 1988, Anheuser-Busch established a formal “water donation program” and started storing cans of drinking water to prepare for the next big emergency situation. The company’s motto evolved into “we can’t always predict when disaster strikes, but we can prepare.”
In 2019, that emergency drinking water effort evolved further when the brewing company partnered with the National Volunteer Fire Council (NVFC).
“We partner with the NVFC to supply volunteer fire departments with this scarce resource ahead of wildfire season when fires become more frequent. Over the last six years, we have distributed millions of cans of water to over 3,100 fire departments across almost all 50 U.S. states,” Anheuser-Busch noted.
From Florida Politics by Drew Dixon, Published May 5, 2025
