PepsiCo has announced its aiming to achieve 50% recycled plastic (rPET) in its bottles by 2030 across the European Union, with an interim target of 45% by 2025. Through this target, the company will more than triple the amount of recycled plastic it uses, equating to over 50,000 tonnes of rPET.
The announcement comes in support of the European Commission’s voluntary recycled plastics pledging campaign to ensure that by 2025, ten million tonnes of recycled plastics are used to make new products in the EU market. PepsiCo’s goal covers all countries expected to be members of the EU in 2025 and all the company’s beverage brands in PET (the primary plastic used in its bottles) including Pepsi, Pepsi MAX, 7Up, Tropicana and Naked. The goal will apply across PepsiCo’s Beverage operations, including company owned and franchise.
Responsibility To The Environment
PepsiCo Europe and Sub-Saharan Africa president Silviu Popovici commented, “At PepsiCo, we take our responsibility to protecting the environment seriously and are steadfast in our commitment to finding sustainable ways to create our products. We have been on a mission in the European Union to advance a culture that encourages and supports recovery and recycling of packaging. I am very happy to announce that we will now go much further in the use of recycled plastics in our packaging, as we work to meet and exceed this new target in the years ahead.
“Developing an effective, long-term approach to sustainable packaging requires a multifaceted effort, and PepsiCo is committed to collaborating with the many stakeholders involved to ensure it succeeds in developing a Circular Economy for plastics into the future. With serious under-capacity in the supply of affordable recycled plastics suitable for food packaging, we call on public and private stakeholders in the recycling system, including the European Commission, to join us and make the needed investments to expand recycling capacity. Provided the right progress is made on increasing packaging recovery rates, and improving reprocessing technology, we will look to go even further than our current commitment.”
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