The mission to make New Orleans’ trash-filled Mardi Gras season a little more sustainable ended with a mixed bag of results this season.

From small-batch glass Mardi Gras beads to recycling stations along the parade route, a cohort of local groups have been hard at work to put a dent in Carnival’s epic waste problem.

This year, the group of nonprofits, aided by a partnership with the city and money from Entergy, recycled more than 61,000 pounds of beer bottles, empty cans, Mardi Gras beads and other materials from the festivities. That’s roughly 28 tons, or the weight of seven large female African elephants.

The fourth year of the RecycleDat! initiative boasted record-high numbers of recycled cans and bottles, though the total weight of the recycled material dipped from last year. The coalition recycled less glass and fewer throws compared to 2025, which accounted for the overall change.

Brett Davis, whose organization Grounds Krewe kickstarted the efforts, said recycling along the parade route increased, a good sign for what he called the “meat of the program.” 

“But the participating bars program kind of decreased, which threw things off,” said Davis.

Throwing less and throwing better?

Davis attributed the array of results to a rising interest in parade sustainability, a successful “throw less, throw better” movement and funding-related planning challenges.

Over the two parade weekends, the recyclers collected nearly 200,000 cans and more than 75,000 plastic bottles, far exceeding the figures from last year. Last year, the group recycled less than 130,000 cans and less than 25,000 plastic bottles. 

In contrast, the organizations saw a decrease of around 5,000 pounds of beads and throws. But Davis believes this drop might actually be a positive sign that the krewes are investing in higher quality, more sustainable throws. In addition to their recycling efforts, Grounds Krewe also sells locally made and plastic-free throws to krewes. 

After Freret and King Arthur, Davis observed, paradegoers barely donated any throws to the recycling stations set up along the route.

“I think genuinely there’s fewer throws out there now, which is a good thing,” Davis said. “So in a weird way, having the poundage go down on that over time may be of benefit.”

‘The right direction’

While the drop in bead figures may be an auspicious sign for carnival sustainability, the decrease in glass partially stemmed from last-minute changes related to a bar recycling program, which is a collaboration with local businesses and the Glass Half Full glass recycling company, he said.

This year, the recycling coalition collected nearly 35,000 pounds of glass, the vast majority from the bar and restaurant program. In 2025, the recyclers collected more than 45,000 pounds. Davis noted that the drop in glass numbers drove the overall decrease, given the relative heaviness of a glass bottle compared to a can or a string of plastic beads.

Franziska Trautmann, the founder of Glass Half Full, said that the coalition had no idea until the last minute whether they would be able to carry out the bar program, which impacted the figures. While the city is still a partner for the project, it did not provide any funds due to New Orleans’ budget deficit.

The City Council had allocated $200,000 for this year’s recycling initiative, but none of those funds were distributed. In previous years, the city’s resiliency office had allocated $50,000. 

Entergy ultimately stepped in and gave the initiative that amount in December, Davis said. But that meant less time for planning and marketing. Other factors played a role too, Trautmann noted, such as a shorter Carnival season and a changing mix of participating venues in the bar program.

“In general, I notice a shift in the right direction,” Trautmann said. “Maybe I’m just looking for it, but I think more people are waking up to the waste issue.”

The quantity of Mardi Gras waste is staggering. In recent years, the 12-day parade period has produced over 1,100 tons of trash, or the weight of 275 large female African elephants.