This year’s initiative includes new programming, including Recycle World on the corner of St. Charles Avenue and Louisiana Avenue, as Recycle Dat! continues to grow
This Carnival Season, the New Orleans Office of Resilience & Sustainability is again partnering with New Orleans & Company, and Grounds Krewe, with support from sponsors like Every Can Counts, Entergy New Orleans, and Coca Cola, as well as other partners, on the Recycle Dat! initiative, promoting a more sustainable carnival season. This year, members of the public can expect new and expanded programming as Recycle Dat! continues to grow.
New Programming in 3rd Year of Recycle Dat!
Recycle World: Sponsored by Coca-Cola and operated by Osprey Initiative, Recycle World is a first-of-its-kind space along the parade route, providing real-time collection and sorting of plastic bottles and aluminum cans. Recycle World will highlight the packaging circularity process and the impact of recycling while contributing to a greener Mardi Gras and more sustainable celebration. The interactive station will be located at the Premium Parking lot on the corner of Louisiana and St. Charles Avenue and will be open the two Saturdays and Sundays before Mardi Gras during the route recycling hours of ~10am - 7pm. A rendering of the site is available here.
Aluminum Can Mosaic: A Masterpiece of Sustainability: Revelers and parade goers who visit Recycle World will also be able to contribute their used aluminum beverage cans to the creation of a can mosaic supported by Every Can Counts. Designed by a local artist, the mosaic will use more than 2,400 used beverage cans to reveal a Mardi-Gras themed image.
Bar Wars: New Orleans bars battle to recycle the most glass with Glass Half Full from February 1st through Mardi Gras Day, diverting waste from landfills while fueling vital coastal restoration projects. By turning glass waste into sustainable sand, Bar Wars fuels the fight to restore the coast with bold climate action and inspiring climate art projects thanks to a partnership with Climate Culture, Pursuit of Happiness Farms, and Creole Contemporary. You can support the goals of this competition by donating on behalf of your favorite competing bar at barwars.xyz
Recycling Rewards: Parade goers who turn in full bags of cans, bottles or throws at recycling stations during the route recycling program are eligible to win prizes as part of a sweepstakes from local sponsors. See all rewards and how to participate here.
Signature On-Route Parade Recycling Program Returns to Recycle Dat!:
Recycling Hub Location Information
During weekend day parades, the public can recycle aluminum cans, glass and plastic bottles, as well as any unwanted parade throws, benefitting local non-profits. Staffed recycling stations along both Napoleon & St. Charles Avenue will service recycling receptacles placed along the route. Additionally, these stations will distribute crawfish sacks that can be filled with clean throws to be recycled and reused.
- The hub locations will run from approximately 10 a.m.-7 p.m. on Saturday, February 22 - “Freret Day”, Sunday, February 23, Saturday, March 1, and Sunday, March 2nd.
- There will also be a special one night route recycling shift on Muses Thursday.
- The full map is available here.
- Interested volunteers who want to help at stations staffed by Grounds Krewe, Glass Half Full, Osprey Initiative, The Green Project, and Nola Cans 4 Food should sign up here.
Disclaimer: While the Recycling Hubs will accept empty glass bottles, it's important to note that glass is not allowed on the parade route (City Ordinance Sect 54-404). We discourage parade goers from using them along the route.
Program Impact:
Last year, the coalition recycled along the parade route 4,302 lbs of aluminum beverage cans, approximately 145,408 cans; 4,288 lbs of glass; 12,697 lbs of beads and throws, which includes 5,100 lbs collected at the Morial Convention Center in partnership with Realcycle and 2,144 lbs collected through the Krewe of Reuse program by Downtown Development District, French Quarter Management District, VCPORA, and Glass Half Full. In addition, the recycling hub run by Osprey Initiative collected plastic bottles for the first time of Recycle Dat! as a pilot run. They collected 236 lbs of plastic bottles, or approximately 6,139 bottles.
During the 2023 Carnival Season, the city recycled 1,475 pounds of aluminum, 1,500 pounds of glass and 11,535 pounds of Mardi Gras beads and throws with the help of the Recycle Dat! partners.
As the impact of the program expands, leaders of the initiative continue to see growing demand from the community to expand the work of Recycle Dat!
"It's inspiring to see this program go from a handful of volunteers, grocery carts and some rented cargo trailers stashed along the parade route to what is today," said Brett Davis, founding director of Grounds Krewe, the primary organizer and fiscal sponsor of Recycle Dat!. “Now we have a multi-program initiative that is in partnership with the city, spanning multiple weeks from Uptown to Downtown to Mid City to the Bywater, made possible in part by Fortune 500 sponsors and a growing roster of grass-roots groups and businesses committed to creating a more sustainable Mardi Gras. This is truly a community-wide effort!”
Continued involvement from New Orleans & Company and the City of New Orleans echoes this growing demand:
“The work this coalition has done to grow this program year over year has been great to watch and shows how our city continues to evolve and work to make Mardi Gras more sustainable. As residents and visitors continue to prioritize sustainable practices, we want to ensure New Orleans is leading the way,” said Walt Leger III, President & CEO of New Orleans & Company. “Every day, our team at New Orleans & Company works to make New Orleans a great place to live, work, visit and invest. Our involvement in this program embodies that work.”
“New Orleans continues to lead by example in making our iconic traditions more sustainable, and Recycle Dat! is proof of that progress,” said Greg Nichols, Director of the City’s Office of Resilience and Sustainability. “By expanding this initiative year over year, we are reducing waste, supporting local nonprofits, and demonstrating that a greener Mardi Gras is possible. The City is proud to be a partner in this effort, working alongside our community to ensure that our celebrations reflect our shared commitment to sustainability.”
Key sponsors, including leading voices from the aluminum can manufacturing industry, have similarly re-committed their support of Recycle DAT!:
“The Every Can Counts U.S. chapter is excited to support Recycle Dat! for a third year in a row. Our industry’s financial support will double the aluminum beverage can’s high-market scrap value,” said Scott Breen, Senior Vice President of Sustainability at Can Manufacturers Institute. “The aluminum beverage can recycling system is both robust and rewarding. Last year, more than 145,000 used beverage cans were collected along the parade routes and sold to a local metal recycling facility, generating $3,854 with our industry’s doubling for local charities and residents. These cans are most likely to become new cans in the future. 97 percent of recycled aluminum beverage cans in America become new cans, and on average aluminum beverage cans go from recycling bin to newly formed can in less than 60 days.”
All empty aluminum beverage cans collected along the Uptown parade route will be processed by EMR located in Mid-City, which will pay the market rate for the cans and then the revenue generated plus a matching amount from Every Can Counts U.S. will be given to three local charities: Grow Dat Youth Farm, S.O.U.L. Nola, and T.R.E.E. Nola.
In addition to cans collected along the route, community members can also bring cans directly to EMR Mid-City to redeem the doubled amount that can either be donated to the select charities or redeemed by personal check. This program will be eligible up to the first $5,000 (separate from the route matching funds) or through March 5th, whichever comes first. Last year, during this two week doubling offer, 6,375 pounds (or 215,475 cans) were brought in directly, with nearly $5,000 paid out to participants.
Throws will also continue to be collected at select downtown hotels thanks to the French Quarter Management District and Glass Half Full. Additionally, the Ernest N. Morial Convention Center will be diverting throws recycled from krewe balls hosted on their property to local organization, ArcGNO.
To learn more about Recycle Dat! please visit https://recycledat.org/.
Recycle Dat! Sponsors & Partners:
