Coco Taps Earns Zero Waste Certification

LAS VEGAS — Shark Tank contestant and Las Vegas-based Coco Taps, a fresh-tapped coconut supplier, announced today that its tapping and branding facility is the first in Las Vegas to earn the Total Resource Use and Efficiency (TRUE) Zero Waste certification. TRUE is a program of Green Business Certification, Inc. (GBCI), an independent organization that recognizes excellence in green business practice and performance globally.

Coco Taps supplies fresh coconuts to over 20 resorts, 60 restaurants and 40 convenience stores in Las Vegas, California and Arizona. The company diverts 95 percent of the waste produced at its Las Vegas facility from landfill, incineration and the environment. The facility taps and brands an average of 2000 coconuts weekly.

TRUE helps facilities define, pursue and achieve zero waste goals and become more resource efficient.

“Coco Taps’ TRUE Zero Waste certification is paving the way for a more sustainable future,” said Mahesh Ramanujam, president and CEO, U.S. Green Building Council and GBCI. “When we restructure our operations and production systems in a way that improves business, the environment and our communities, we become true leaders.”

Environmental Steward Proves Sustainability and Profits Work

“When we launched Coco Taps in 2014, our objective was to prove to the world that businesses can produce high quality products that people love, while also making the world a better place through sustainable and regenerative practices,” said Coco Vinny, Coco Taps founder and chief coconut-in-charge.

Coco Vinny realized this achievement for his Las Vegas business through the implementation of numerous zero waste practices and policies. A minority-owned business, Coco Taps works with its vendors to eliminate unnecessary packaging, reuses all of its shipping boxes, provides zero wastetraining for employees. It also encourages its customers to compost the coconuts and reuse the taps. Coco Taps’ corporate goal is to achieve 100 percent waste diversion from landfill by 2020.

“This is a historic moment for the state of Nevada and Las Vegas,” said Josh Prigge, Las Vegas-based sustainability consultant at Sustridge and member of the Coco Taps Regenerative Business Advisory Board. “Coco Taps is committed to using this achievement as the first zero waste certified business in Las Vegas to build momentum towards a more sustainable future for the city and to grow the zero-waste movement throughout the region.”

“Zero waste management isn’t just the right thing to do for the environment, but it’s also smart business. Recycling revenue and eliminating waste hauling costs really add up when you are diverting almost all of your waste from the landfill like Coco Taps is doing,” Prigge said. Prigge, a TRUE advisor, helped guide Coco Taps through the zero waste certification process.

Prigge and Coco Vinny will speak about zero waste practices and certification at a TRUE Zero Waste Workshop in Las Vegas on December 7. It is open to the public.

About Coco Taps

Founded in 2014, Coco Taps provides the only resealable coconut beverage system available in the market. Manufactured in the United States, tool kits and coconuts are sold online at Coco Taps and through resorts, retail stores and restaurants. The company recently launched an investmentcrowdfunding campaign here, https://wefunder.com/cocotaps. A contestant on the ABC reality series, Shark Tank, Coco Taps is headquartered in Las Vegas and is certified by the National Minority Supplier Development Council as a Minority Business Enterprise.