PepsiCo, Inc. has announced that their LIFEWTR line of products will be packaged in 100 percent rPET (recycled polyethylene terephthalate), and it's bubly line will no longer be packaged in plastic. The company's AQUAFINA water brand will also offer aluminum can packaging in U.S. food service outlets, while the brand tests the move in retail.
The changes, which all go into effect next year, are expected to eliminate more than 8,000 metric tons of virgin plastic and approximately 11,000 metric tons of greenhouse gas emissions, representing the latest ambitious steps in the company's sustainability journey and pursuit of a circular economy for plastics. They reinforce and advance PepsiCo's goals to by 2025 make 100 percent of its packaging recyclable, compostable, or biodegradable and use 25 percent recycled plastic content in all its plastic packaging.
"Tackling plastic waste is one of my top priorities and I take this challenge personally," PepsiCo Chairman and CEO Ramon Laguarta. "As one of the world's leading food and beverage companies, we recognize the significant role PepsiCo can play in helping to change the way society makes, uses, and disposes of plastics. We are doing our part to address the issue head on by reducing, recycling and reinventing our packaging to make it more sustainable, and we won't stop until we live in a world where plastics are renewed and reused."
Naked Juice, a category leader in premium fruit and veggie juices and smoothies, has been working since 2009 to ensure its bottles are made of 100 percent rPET and can be turned into bottles again and again. By making its bottles with rPET, the brand also uses about 25 percent less energy than if it used virgin plastic.
PepsiCo is one of the largest users of food-grade recycled PET in the world, and the company is also working to help reliably increase the supply needed to meet its packaging goals. In tandem with current suppliers and partners like The Recycling Partnership, Loop Industries, Alliance to End Plastic Waste, and World Economic Forum's Global Plastic Action Partnership (GPAP), PepsiCo is aiming to both increase recycling rates and improve the plastic recycling infrastructure.
