PepsiCo to more than triple rPETcontent to 50% in the EU by 2030
PepsiCo 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. Through this target, the company will more than triple the amount of recycled plastic it uses, equating to over 50,000t 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 (with the UK covered through a signature on the UK Plastics Pact), and all the company’s beverage brands in PET including Pepsi, Pepsi MAX, 7Up, Tropicana and Naked. PepsiCo is already a significant user of food grade rPET in the EU, using approximately 13% rPET in its EU beverage operations in 2017.
Silviu Popovici, President, PepsiCo Europe Sub-Saharan Africa commented: “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.”
A critical part of increasing the availability of recycled plastics, suitable for re-use in packaging, is ensuring that bottles are placed in the recycling system, rather than littering the environment. In addition to participating in Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR) schemes across the EU, PepsiCo is partnering on programmes to increase recovery and recycling rates.
