PepsiCo has announced its goal to achieve 50% recycled plastic (rPET) in its bottles by 2030 across the European Union, with an interim target of 45% by 2025.
This will see the consumer goods company attempt to 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.
Environmental Responsibility
It also builds on the company’s global Performance with Purpose vision, which includes a goal to design 100% of its packaging to be recyclable, compostable or biodegradable and to reduce its packaging’s carbon impact by 2025.
“At PepsiCo, we take our responsibility to protect the environment seriously and are steadfast in our commitment to finding sustainable ways to create our products,” said Silviu Popovici, President, PepsiCo Europe Sub-Saharan Africa.
“Today, 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.”
Popovici added that developing an effective, long-term approach to sustainable packaging requires a “multifaceted effort”. He said the group is committed to collaborating with stakeholders 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,” he added.
“Provided the right progress is made in increasing packaging recovery rates, and improving reprocessing technology, we will look to go even further than our current commitment.”
PepsiCo recently announced that it is set to buy carbonated drink-machine maker SodaStream for $3.2 billion as it battles Coca-Cola for an edge in the health-conscious beverage market.
© 2018 Checkout – your source for the latest Irish retail news. Article by Aidan O’Sullivan. Click subscribe to sign up for the Checkout print edition.
