NEW ORLEANS – Launched in 2023 as a pilot program by the City of New Orleans, the Recycle Dat! initiative has been implementing innovative ways to recycle Mardi Gras beads and throws to address the massive volume of plastic used during the Carnival season.
Glass Half Full, a key partner in the Recycle Dat! initiative, facilitates the bead recycling program by hosting collection stations. Besides assisting to recycle plastic during Mardi Gras, Glass Half Full has diverted tens of thousands of pounds of glass each week from landfills across the Gulf South.
FQMD Doubles Number of Participating Hotels
The French Quarter Management District (FQMD) is a key partner in this effort. They are providing 15 participating hotels in the French Quarter and Downtown district with free bead recycling services during the 2025 Carnival season.
The bead recycling stations have been in place at participating French Quarter hotels since Feb. 17 and will remain there until March 10. French Quarter hotels are encouraging their guests to drop unwanted, lightly used beads into the 64-gallon bins.
“In 2024, FQMD’s bead recycling program collected 3,346 pounds of beads. This year, we have proudly doubled the number of hotels participating in the program and assisting in our recycling efforts,” said FQMD Executive Director Michelle Courseault.
Any hotel owner or staff member interested in bringing the FQMD’s bead recycling program to their business should email pickups@glasshalffull.co or visit the website here.
The 2025 Hotels participating in the program include:
- Courtyard by Marriott – Downtown Near the French Quarter
- Courtyard Marriott Iberville French Quarter
- Hilton Riverside
- Hotel Monteleone
- Hotel Provincial
- Hotel de la Monnaie
- Hyatt Centric French Quarter
- La Galerie Hotel
- New Orleans Marriott at 555 Canal
- Ritz-Carlton
- Sheraton New Orleans
- The Royal Sonesta New Orleans
- The Saint
- The Westin New Orleans
- Wyndham New Orleans – French Quarter
This recycling program, now in its second year facilitated by Glass Half Full, will ensure that all beads collected are donated to ArcGNO.
ArcGNO, short for the Arc of Greater New Orleans, is a 67-year-old non-profit organization dedicated to advancing the independence and well-being of people with intellectual and developmental disabilities such as Down syndrome, cerebral palsy, and autism.
When Glass Half Full delivers the beads to ArcGNO, they will be sorted and repackaged for reuse. This not only helps reduce environmental waste but also creates employment opportunities for people with intellectual disabilities.
In addition to bead recycling, FQMD provides year-round, weekly free glass, aluminum, paper/cardboard, and plastic recycling at three different French Quarter drop off locations in partnership with Glass Half Full.
Previous Years
During the 2023 Carnival Season, the city’s Recycle Dat! initiative recycled about 11,535 pounds of Mardi Gras beads and throws.
When not recycled, these beads end up in landfills or clog storm drains. In 2018, there were 93,000 pounds of beads washed into storm drains along just five city blocks. The beads contributed to to flood risks and they break down into microplastics that leach toxic chemicals like lead and flame retardants into the environment.
A Coalition of Partners
The Recycle Dat! initiative is a collaborative effort that involves several city agencies and local partners working together to tackle Mardi Gras waste. The key participants included:
- Office of Resilience and Sustainability (ORS): Providing leadership on sustainability initiatives across the city.
- NOLA Ready: Facilitating public education and managing recycling drop‐off locations along the parade routes.
- New Orleans & Company: The city’s marketing and tourism agency, which helps promote the program.
- Grounds Krewe: A local nonprofit that works on sustainable parade practices and waste reduction.
- The French Quarter Management District: Providing recycling services to 15 French Quarter hotels.
- Every Can Counts: Focused on recycling aluminum beverage cans, contributing to the overall waste diversion effort.
- Glass Half Full: Organizing bead recycling at designated hotels in the French Quarter and Downtown.
- Arc of Greater New Orleans (ArcGNO): Receiving the collected beads to sort and repackage them.
In addition to plastic, the Recycle Dat! program collects other materials for recycling. During the 2023 Carnival Season, for example, the program recycled approximately 1,475 pounds of aluminum (roughly 50,000 beverage cans) and 1,500 pounds of glass.
With the extension of the program this year to a larger number of French Quarter hotels by the French Quarter Management District, the Recycle Dat! program will make an even larger positive impact.
About French Quarter Management District
The French Quarter Management District (FQMD) is a state political subdivision created by the Louisiana Legislature as a means for the residential and business communities to work together to protect, preserve and maintain the world-famous French Quarter as a safe, clean, vibrant and friendly neighborhood for residents, businesses, and visitors. FQMD supports security, public safety and quality of life initiatives in the French Quarter.
About Recycle Dat!
RECYCLE DAT! is a parade recycling project working to reduce the amount of trash sent to landfills during Carnival Season. This Carnival Season (2025), 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’s iniative is highlighted by new and expanded programming as Recycle Dat! continues to grow.
About Glass Half Full
“We began collecting and hand-crushing our friends’ glass with no real expectation for what this project would become. As word spread, participation and support grew, and soon we obtained the resources to move to a location in Uptown New Orleans. After quickly running out of storage space, supporters rallied to help us expand into a new processing facility on Louisa St., where we’d have the ability to scale up our operations and accept more glass. From there, it was history– we are now backed by a growing team of staff, volunteers, and community members who pitch in daily to divert tens of thousands of pounds of glass each week from landfills across the Gulf South.”
