The corporate responsibility group, As You Sow, recently completed its annual review of the recycling efforts of beverage companies entitled, "Waste and Opportunity: U.S. Beverage Container Recycling Scorecard and Report 2011." The report is an essential barometer of how the industry is finding ways to design recyclable bottles and packaging and increasing recycling containers where the products are sold. Out of all of the domestic beverage producers, Nestle scored top marks, but still only received a grade of B-, according to Earth911.com.

While aluminum can recycling is at its highest levels ever recorded, As You Sow has gone the extra mile to grade these companies based on the amount of recycled material used to make new bottles. The organization found that there has been no significant increase in the amount of recycled material in bottle production since its 2008 report.

"We were disappointed that the companies have not made new stronger commitments [to use more recycled materials] since the last report," Conrad MacKerron, As You Sow's director of corporate responsibility, told the news source.

While these companies scored lower in terms of the use of recycled material, As You Sow did report that beverage producers have expanded their efforts to expand recycling programs throughout the world. This is good for the environment as well as the companies that produce the products. Essentially, if a company has a hand in the disposal of its items, then it will work harder to create beverage containers that are easier to recycle.

The beverage industry still has a long way to go to become completely sustainable, but with watchdog groups like As You Sow, people can get the real facts about what they're buying and how it's made.