PepsiCo
Packaging producers and users
Key Metrics
Plastic packaging weight
2,350,000 metric tonnes
Total and/or virgin plastic packaging reduction target
5% virgin reduction compared to 2020
Reusable plastic packaging
Reusable, recyclable or compostable plastic packaging
100
75
50
25
%
Post-consumer recycled content
100
75
50
25
%
* Aligned: in assessing the recyclability of their portfolio this signatory has aligned with the New Plastics Economy 2021 Recycling Rate Survey results and/or the Global Commitment methodology of recyclability ‘in pratice and at scale’. This means their recyclability percentage is comparable to other signatories that also aligned with the above.
Company Details
Description
PepsiCo's product portfolio includes a wide range of enjoyable foods and beverages that includes Frito-Lay, Gatorade, Pepsi-Cola, Quaker and Tropicana. This wide range of products are enjoyed by consumers in over 200 countries and territories across the globe.
Website
Revenue band (USD)
> $10 billion
Headquarters location
United States
Regions active
Africa: Eastern Africa, Northern Africa, Southern Africa, Western Africa
America: Caribbean, Central America, Northern America, South America
Asia: Eastern Asia, Central Asia, South-eastern Asia, Southern Asia, Western Asia
Europe: Eastern Europe, Northern Europe, Southern Europe, Western Europe
Oceania: Australia and New Zealand, Melanesia, Micronesia and Polynesia
Products sold in plastic packaging
Food & nutrition, Non-alcoholic beverages
Reporting details
Data verification/assurance status
No third-party verification or assurance in place
Scope of reported data
Covers full scope of activities
12-month quantitative data time frame
From December 2019 to December 2020
Joined the Global Commitment
October 2018
Ellen MacArthur Foundation's Plastics Pact Network membership (as of 18/05/2021)
Australia, New Zealand, and the Pacific Island Nations, France, United Kingdom
Webpage or report addressing progress
https://www.pepsico.com/esg-topics-a-z/packaging
Plastic packaging portfolio details
See endnotes for more information on quantitative data
Plastic packaging weight (new packaging)
2,350,000 metric tonnes
Reused plastic packaging weight
0 metric tonnes
Plastic packaging categories in portfolio
Type | Category | Proportion |
---|
Rigids | PET bottle | - |
Other PET rigids | - | |
HDPE bottles | - | |
HDPE other rigids | - |
Flexible | >A4 mono-materials PE in B2B context | - |
>A4 mono-materials PE in B2C context | - | |
<A4 multi-material flexibles | - |
Other | Due to data limitations PET Thermoforms, PP Other Rigids and PS Rigids are not able to be separated out and so have been reported in the ‘other’ category. | - |
Plastic packaging design assessment
Reusable, recyclable and/or compostable
77%
Reusable
0%
Recyclable
77%
Compostable
0%
Material sourcing
Virgin fossil-based content
95%
Post-consumer recycled content
5%
Pre-consumer recycled content
0%
Virgin renewable content
0%
Link to other published data
https://www.pepsico.com/esg-topics-a-z/packaging
Commitments
Plastic and/or virgin plastic packaging reduction target
2025 target
5% virgin reduction compared to 2020
Plastic packaging weight baseline
2,230,000 metric tonnes - same scope as the reporting scope
Additional information about the target
PepsiCo aims to achieve our sustainable packaging goals by fostering cross-industry and public-private partnerships, advocating for improved recycling, composting, broader waste management infrastructure and regulatory reform, supporting the advancement of new materials and enhanced recycling technologies, collaborating with suppliers and partners, and helping to increase consumer education and acceptance, all of which are necessary to meet our overall goals. In formulating our new virgin plastic reduction goal, we will reduce use of virgin plastic through use of: recycled content plastic feedstock; packaging redesign to eliminate plastic; reusable and/or refillable models; new innovative technologies; and alternative packaging materials.
For more information on PepsiCo's packaging work, please visit: http://www.pepsico.com/sustainability/packaging.
Eliminating problematic or unnecessary plastic packaging
Progress made over the reporting period
Examples of materials / formats / components eliminated or reduced
Proportion elimated % of weight | Weight eliminated metric tonnes | Quantity eliminated units | Primary means of elimination | Other details | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Other pigment/additive | - | - | - | Removal of a pigment/additive | Moved from neon to transparent light green for select markets |
PVC | - | - | - | Substitution to another plastic | Transitioned some markets out of PVC labels |
Other material | - | - | - | Substitution to another plastic | Transitioned some hard to recycle labels to be recycle compliant in several markets |
Single-use straws | - | - | - | Substitution to paper | Successfully replaced plastic straws with paper straws in one market |
Activities and progress made on elimination
Over the course of 2020, PepsiCo has been testing and validating alternatives for materials that are not recycle compatible to gain insights for future innovation. We:
- launched a market test of molded pulp fiber and paperboard replacements for our plastic 6-pack carriers in the U.S.
- transitioned some beverage SKUs to recycle compliant labels and ran validation trials for other relevant SKUs.
- transitioned certain markets from neon green beverage bottles to transparent light green.
We have also been exploring how to reduce virgin plastic used in our beverage business, in 2020 for example, our bubly sparkling water brand exited plastic packaging, is now packaged in aluminum cans and is available as bubly drops for SodaStream.
Planned actions by 2025
Plastic packaging to be eliminated or reduced
Proportion elimated % of weight | Weight eliminated metric tonnes | Quantity eliminated | Year Achieved | Other details | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Metallised films | - | - | - | 2025 | Referring here to metallized labels |
Other pigment/additive | - | - | - | 2025 | elimination of neon |
PS | - | - | - | 2025 | - |
PVC | - | - | - | 2025 | - |
PVDC | - | - | - | 2025 | - |
Planned actions on elimination
We have already removed impediments to recycling in some markets such as PVC and colorants and are working to validate alternatives to remove the rest by 2025. These include:
- continued validation testing and conversion from non-recyclable to recycle compatible labels.
- transition colored PET to compliant PET for beverage bottles.
We are also working to reduce plastic use and, where environmentally efficient, switch to alternative materials. For example:
- we will further develop and scale technology to pre-settle our snack products to use a smaller bag for the same volume of snack, thus reducing plastic used
- SodaStream will switch all its flavors from virgin plastic to alternative materials including metal and rPET by 2025, which will avoid nearly 200 million single-use plastic bottles over the next five years.
Moving from single-use towards reuse models
Progress made over the reporting period
Share of plastic packaging that is reusable (2020)
Availability of reuse models today
Recent or in-progress pilots of reuse models for new products or packaging, Reuse models in place for consumer facing products or packaging
Product line(s) with reuse model(s): 6
Market(s) where reuse models are available today: Eastern Africa, Northern Africa, Southern Africa, Western Africa, Caribbean, Central America, Northern America, South America, Eastern Asia, South-eastern Asia, Southern Asia, Western Asia, Eastern Europe, Northern Europe, Southern Europe, Western Europe, Australia and New Zealand (89% of total)
Product applications and reuse model types
Reuse model types | Markets | Other details | |
---|---|---|---|
Food & nutrition | Refill on the go, Return from home | France, UK | Quaker Oats, Bénénuts |
Non-alcoholic beverages | Refill on the go, Refill at home, Return on the go, Return from home | Models operating in 100+ countries in NA, Europe, Latin America, Africa, and Asia | SodaStream, SodaStream Professional, carbonated soft drinks, Tropicana (Loop) |
Pilots launched
2
Activities and progress made on reuse
Over the reporting period:
-The SodaStream brand expanded to officially launch SodaStream Professional, a mobile-enabled hydration platform that allows people to customize their water away-from-home, including offices, colleges and airports.
-SodaStream expanded the availability of PepsiCo-branded flavor options to include Australia, Norway, Sweden, Germany and France, making it easier for consumers to create their favorite beverages at home.
-We launched two bulk dispensing pilots in Europe: one with UK retailer Asda where we participated in a trial to reduce plastics and explore refillable options for our Quaker brand in their Sustainability Store; and a second in France with retailer Franprix on a pilot to distribute our nut product Bénénuts in bulk version.
-We are currently engaged in on-going workstreams with WEF, WWF and others, to develop standard methodology on how to account for and report on reusable, refillable and zero-waste packaging.
Planned action by 2025
Product applications and reuse model types to be introduced or expanded
Reuse model types | Markets | Other details | |
---|---|---|---|
Non-alcoholic beverages | Refill on the go, Refill at home | Will expand existing refill/return models in Europe, Latin America and parts of Asia | SodaStream, returnable carbonated soft drinks |
Other 2025 reuse goals
Piloting reuse models for new products or packaging: 2 pilots
Introducing or expanding reuse models for consumer facing products/packaging
Planned actions on reuse
Reuse is a lever the business will use to support our plastic reduction goal. We will continue developing, testing, and scaling models, e.g., piloting our bulk dispensing models in Western Europe and expansion of our SodaStream and returnables business.
100% reusable, recyclable and/or compostable plastic packaging
Progress made over the reporting period
Share of plastic packaging that is reusable, recyclable or compostable (2020)
Actions and progress made to make packaging recyclable or compostable (see previous section for progress on shifting to reusable packaging)
In 2020:
-77% of our plastic packaging was recyclable
-We validated material concepts, such as recyclable labels and alternatives to plastic 6-pack carriers, to implement in the future to further increase our recyclable or compostable rate
- To improve recyclability, Doritos STAX was launched in the U.K. in a widely recyclable cardboard based triangular tube. 2020 presented unique challenges as COVID-19 impacted the implementation of expected planned conversions of packaging to recyclable formats, at a time when consumption of these formats grew. Many of these transitions are now on track to be completed in 2021 and we continue to move toward our target of having 100% of our packaging be recyclable, compostable or biodegradable.
Actions and progress made on collaborating towards increasing recycling and composting rates for plastic packaging
In 2020:
- PepsiCo joined Pulpex Limited to further develop and scale the world’s first recyclable paper bottle, initially developed by Diageo and Pilot Lite.
- Our investment partner, Circulate Capital Ocean Fund, invested US$19 million in four leading companies in India that are using technology and innovation to scale and transform India’s waste management and recycling value chain.
- PepsiCo signed on to the Digital Watermarks Initiative HolyGrail 2.0, facilitated by AIM, the European Brands Association, aimed at improving the sorting of packaging waste for increased and higher-quality recycling.
Additional details on recyclability
Share of plastic packaging that is recyclable (2020)
Alignment with the New Plastics Economy 2021 Recycling Rate Survey results
Yes
Planned actions by 2025
2025 target
100% reusable, recyclable or compostable
Planned actions to make packaging recyclable or compostable
-Exploring the transition of select beverages with a problematic oxygen barrier to more recycle friendly alternatives -Transitioning non-compliant beverage bottle labels to be recycle compatible - Transitioning from green to clear plastic for 7UP across Europe to drive bottle-to-bottle recycling - In collaboration with Whole Foods and other small retailers, PepsiCo Foods North America will pilot new industrial compostable packaging in the second half of 2021 -We will pilot renewable materials for films in the U.K., U.S., and Mexico -Pilots to test circularity of films in Latin America and Europe
Planned actions on collaborating towards increasing recycling and composting rates for plastic packaging
Our partners are key to driving sustainable change in the end-to-end packaging value chain. We will continue to engage with key partners to work to increase recycling and composting rates for our packaging by: - Looking for new innovative solutions to our packaging through coalitions like Pulpex - Working with the Consumer Goods Forum and other industry associations to advocate for better collection policy for recycling - Engaging with industry and launching new multi-stakeholder partnerships
Increasing post-consumer recycled content in plastic packaging
Progress made over the reporting period
Level of post-consumer recycled content in plastic packaging (2020)
Activities and progress made on post-consumer recycled content
- Currently, 22 global markets now offer a PepsiCo product in 100% rPET packaging.
- Naked became the first nationally distributed juice and smoothie brand in U.K. grocery retail to e sold in 100% rPET bottles. The brand made the change across its full range of smoothies, including Naked Machines, Naked Lean and Naked Zing. Naked Juice has been offering 100% rPET bottles in the U.S. since 2009.
- In 2020, TAZO launched its U.S. chilled portfolio in 100% rPET bottles.
Planned actions by 2025
2025 post-consumer recycled content target
25%
Planned actions to increase post-consumer recycled content
- To reach our goal of 25% recycled content in our plastic packaging by 2025, PepsiCo will continue to work to increase collection and recycling rates, advocate for the use of rPET in markets where it is currently prohibited, and work with partners to develop and scale innovative technology.
- We will eliminate all virgin plastic from Pepsi brand beverage bottles sold in nine European Union markets by 2022 as well as continue testing in the U.S. to transition several brands to 100% rPET.
- PepsiCo will continue to work with partners like the Carbios Consortium to scale up enzymatic recycling in order to reduce the amount of PET that becomes waste by being able to recover high-quality PET from hard-to-recycle materials like fibers and opaque plastics.
Investments
Total invested/committed over the reporting period towards achieving the commitments
Total: $65 million Other (Since 2018, PepsiCo and the PepsiCo Foundation committed to invest more than $65 million USD in global recycling partnership initiatives to elevate recycling rates and waste collection.): 65 million
Additional details on investments
PepsiCo is investing resources across the company to meet our Sustainable Packaging goals. Not only are we investing in partnerships with NGOs, but also in R&D coalitions with industry peers to support recycling infrastructure and to develop new technologies. We’re also investing in new equipment and staff resources to further the agenda internally.
End notes
Product line definition
For product line(s) with available reuse model(s): We have 6 systems that offer reusable packaging solutions including SodaStream, SodaStream Professional, Spire Machines (fountain beverage dispenser), returnable glass and plastic bottles, and Terracycle Loop. These systems cover a number of brands in our portfolio, for example, Pepsi, Mirinda, and 7UP are all offered as returnable bottles in select markets in Latin America, Europe, Africa and Asia.