“Students for Recycling” Project Collects 70.6 Million Plastic Bottles During Keep America Beautiful’s Great American Cleanup™

STAMFORD, Conn. (Nov. 6, 2007) – Students across the country collected 70.6 million plastic (PET) bottles as a part of “Students for Recycling,” a national school-based PET recycling program that turns plastic bottles into backpacks for kids.  Participating students far exceeded the goal of the program, which was to divert 45 million plastic bottles from the waste stream.

This achievement took place during Keep America Beautiful’s Great American Cleanup^™, the nation’s largest community improvement program.  Keep America Beautiful (KAB) teamed up with the Aquafina water brand and Sam’s Club^® to coordinate “Students for Recycling” with local KAB affiliates, who, in turn, encouraged their local schools to participate.  Backpacks made from recycled PET will be donated to students who are making a difference in their communities.

“Sam’s Club and Keep America Beautiful share PepsiCo’s commitment to inspire families to take an active role in the preservation of their environment,” said Mario Palomino, senior national account manager, Pepsi-Cola North America, makers of Aquafina. “‘Students for Recycling’ has been a fun way to raise awareness for an important cause while allowing us to give back to the communities who are dedicated to making a difference.”

“We want to congratulate and commend the Students for Recycling organization and kids for all their hard work and support of this program,” said Michael Heintzman, senior vice president of merchandising at Sam’s Club.  “We are proud to be affiliated with this program and look forward to seeing the backpacks made from the recycled material distributed to other students in need.”

Additionally, Sam’s Club^® awarded $50,000 total in the form of $1,000 Sam’s Club Gift Cards to each of the 50 top-collecting schools.  With the help of Keep Greater Milwaukee Beautiful, Hales Corner (Wis.) Lutheran School collected the most pounds per student (171.4 pounds) during the three-month program period. A full list of winners appears below.

“The Students for Recycling program with Sam’s Club and Aquafina is testament to the collective power of Keep America Beautiful volunteers,” said Keep America Beautiful President G. Raymond Empson.  “By providing backpacks made out of recycled PET, our sponsors provided a ‘teachable moment’ for students, demonstrating how recycled raw materials are turned into new and useful products.”

Sam’s Club^® and Aquafina worked with Keep America Beautiful to build awareness of the program with in-store signage that featured a message about recycling.  Keep America Beautiful affiliates worked with their local Sam’s Club^® to conduct the program, and event sponsor Waste Management, Inc. weighed, transported and recycled the bottles.

This is one of many remarkable results tallied by 2.8 million volunteers/attendees during the Great American Cleanup from March 1 through May 31, 2007.  The official results show the tremendous scale of this national grassroots effort to clean up, green up, fix up and revitalize communities.

America’s companies are dedicated to supporting and sponsoring the efforts of the 2007 Great American Cleanup.  The national sponsors included: American Honda Motor Company, Inc., Firestone Complete Auto Care^™ Tires Plus^™, GLAD ForceFlex^® Trash Bags from The Glad Products Company, Pepsi-Cola Company, Sam’s Club^®, The Scotts Miracle-Gro Company, Sparkle^® Paper Towels from Georgia-Pacific, Sprint Foundation, Troy-Bilt^®, Waste Management, Inc. and the Wm. Wrigley Jr. Company. Educational Partner: Rubber Manufacturers Association and ReCellular. For the fifth consecutive year, President George W. Bush served as Honorary Chair of the Great American Cleanup, with Mrs. Laura Bush joining him as Honorary Chair for the third consecutive year.

About Pepsi-Cola North America
Purchase, N.Y.-based Pepsi-Cola North America (www.pepsi.com) is the refreshment beverage unit of PepsiCo, Inc., in the United States and Canada. Its U.S. brands include Pepsi, Mountain Dew, Aquafina, Sierra Mist, IZZE, SoBe, Mug, Tropicana Twister Soda, Tropicana Juice Drinks, Dole and Ocean Spray single-serve juices. The company also makes and markets North America's best-selling ready-to-drink iced teas and coffees, respectively, via joint ventures with Lipton and Starbucks. 

About Sam’s Club
Sam’s Club is a division of Wal-Mart Stores, Inc., (NYSE:WMT). The first Sam’s Club opened its doors in Midwest City, Oklahoma in 1983. Today, Sam’s Club serves more than 47 million U.S. Members with locations nationwide, and in Brazil, Canada, China, Mexico and Puerto Rico. Sam’s Club offers exceptional values on merchandise and services for business owners and consumers. Online merchandise and club information is available at www.samsclub.com.

About Keep America Beautiful, Inc.
Keep America Beautiful, Inc., established in 1953, is the nation’s largest volunteer-based community action and education organization. This national nonprofit forms public-private partnerships and programs that engage individuals to take greater responsibility for improving their community environments. The Great American Cleanup^™ is the organization’s signature program that mobilizes millions of volunteers to improve their communities through hands-on participation. For more information, visit www.kab.org.