SAN FRANCISCO, Calif. and FORT WAYNE, Ind. – Brightmark, a circular innovation company with a mission to Reimagine Waste, in strategic partnership with Downtown Fort Wayne, announced a plastic recycling pilot as part of the 15th annual Lunch on the Square summer series, which runs through August 31, 2023. With the series projected to attract more than 14,000 attendees, organizers have established recycling collection points throughout Freimann Square as a test hub for reclaiming value from the plastic waste generated at this community event. Brightmark, a co-sponsor this year, will recycle the plastic waste from the events at its 20,000-square-foot flagship circularity center in Ashley, Indiana, which to-date has repurposed four million pounds of landfill-bound plastics.
The pilot is the first of its kind for the event, created to foster public awareness and education around the large-scale issue of plastic pollution. With 95% of plastic made in the U.S. each year ending up in landfills, incinerated or as litter, Brightmark’s presence will showcase the importance of this unique recycling solution to divert and repurpose even the most difficult type of plastics to create new, high-quality materials with a lower carbon footprint.
“We’re thrilled to meaningfully engage with Downtown Fort Wayne to showcase the power of community members actively working together to combat the global plastic waste crisis,” said Brightmark Founder and CEO Bob Powell. “Brightmark’s circular solutions are an important, additional layer within the waste hierarchy, designed to Reimagine Waste and secure a clean, bright future for us all.”
The Lunch on the Square plastic recycling pilot will be a continued investment for Downtown Fort Wayne as it enters into a strategic partnership with Brightmark on other large-scale community events. This parallels the streetscape recycling program that Downtown Fort Wayne established in 2011, the first organization in the Fort Wayne market to do so, that now covers 99 blocks.
“Looking back on the past 14 years of Lunch on the Square, we have been committed to championing environmental responsibility that sustains the health of businesses and residents of Fort Wayne and our surrounding communities,” said Downtown Fort Wayne President and CEO Michael Galbraith. “Brightmark is a community leader with deep connections to Indiana with an innovative solution to plastic recycling that makes waste work, capturing value from waste and reinvesting it into the local community. We’re excited to see where this strategic partnership goes.”
Lunch on the Square is presented by Downtown Fort Wayne and Edward Jones, proudly sponsored by Barnes & Thornburg LLP, Brightmark, Fort Wayne Newspapers, K105 FM, Premier Bank, WANE 15, Fort Wayne Recovery, Indiana Michigan Power, Arts United, Innovative Engineering Services, and The Joint Chiropractic. For more information and a complete list of scheduled performances, please go to LunchOnTheSquare.com.
About Brightmark
Brightmark, LLC is a circular innovation company with a mission to Reimagine Waste, developing solutions that make a positive environmental impact on the world and communities where it operates. Brightmark’s established anaerobic digestion and proprietary plastics renewal technologies make the company a veteran in a burgeoning marketplace. The company works across sectors, including agriculture, healthcare, manufacturing, and transportation to decarbonize operations, displace reliance on virgin fossil fuels, and solve circularity challenges at scale.
Committed to systems change in waste, Brightmark works collaboratively to address gaps where traditional methods fall short through its innovative closed-loop approach to recycling and renewables. To date, Brightmark has repurposed four million pounds of landfill-bound plastics and reduced more than 500,000 tons of CO2eq from the atmosphere through anaerobic digestion. The company is also deeply committed to conservation, education, and sustainability career training by partnering with local and national organizations that help protect land and oceans. For more information, visit Brightmark.com.
About Downtown Fort Wayne
Downtown Fort Wayne partners with various public, nonprofit, and private sector organizations to make Downtown Fort Wayne an attractive place to live, work and play. Downtown Fort Wayne’s mission is to advance Downtown Fort Wayne as the vibrant, urban core of northeast Indiana. For more information about Downtown Fort Wayne, go to DowntownFortWayne.com.