Brita® and Preserve® Announce Filter Recycling Program

11/18/2008: The Take Back The Filter campaign is thrilled to announce that Brita and Preserve have teamed up to create a take-back recycling program for Brita pitcher filter cartridges! Read the full press release here.

In a nutshell, beginning in January, folks will be able to drop off filters at Whole Foods Markets or mail them in. Preserve, a U.S. company manufacturing household products from recycled plastic, will recycle 100% of the plastic casing. And the filter material will be regenerated or converted to energy.

Please see our 11/18/08 news item for more details.

Brita tells us that since the faucet mount filters are made from a different type of plastic from the pitcher filters, they are not part of the program at this time. However, Brita and Preserve are continuing to explore options to recycle faucet mount filters and hopes to have a solution in the near future.

What you can do...

  1. Sign the petition.There is currently no longer a need to sign the petition. Brita has heard our voices and come up with a plan that includes most of the things we asked for. It's a step in the right direction.


  2. Write a letter to Clorox executives.Yes! Please write and thank them for helping us keep our pitcher filters out of landfills and ask if they have plans to recycle faucet filters.


  3. Send us your used filter cartridges. Please do not send us any more filters. Hold on to them until January. They will be returnable to select Whole Foods Markets. Or mail them to Preserve.


  4. Contact your local Whole Foods Market and ask the store manager to join Preserve's Gimme 5 program. Each individual store can decide whether or not to participate in collecting #5 plastics, including Brita filters, for recycling. If you'd like to be able to bring your filters back to Whole Foods rather than mailing them in, please speak to the manager at the store near you.


  5. Spread the word! Please do let others know that Brita pitcher filters will be recycled beginning in January and that they should not be thrown in the garbage.