PepsiCo скоротить використання вірджин-пластику як частину своїх цілей сталого розвитку

Recommendation: switch to recycled-content resin in bottle stock now and set a public target to reduce new polymer input by 20% within two years.

To track progress, sasb-aligned reporting will quantify the share of PCR in bottle stock, the footprint of packaging, and health considerations for consumers, with ellen serving as an advisor on materials transparency.

Striving to accelerate progress, teams will collaborate with suppliers and retailers, deploying options beyond bottles–refillable systems, concentrated formats, and compostable outer layers–and launching programs to educate the public about responsible disposal.

This approach drives confidence across the world by delivering high-quality packaging that preserves bottle color and health standards, with content-rich updates that show sooner how progress reduces the footprint.

The initiative will increase content transparency through public dashboards and sasb disclosures, enabling public and world stakeholders to see beyond the packaging line and to achieve measurable reductions in new resin demand across markets.

Content programs will be prioritized in ellen-led governance with quarterly reviews and flexible options to scale globally.

PepsiCo: Cutting Virgin Plastic and Constructive Policy Engagement

Recommendation: Accelerate an integrated program pairing investment in collection infrastructure with composting pilots and supplier collaboration to reduce reliance on new polymer feedstock.

Engaged stakeholders will see demand signals from consumers and retailers, guiding packaging decisions with energy-efficient processing and circular systems. Compared with baseline, the new measures show gains in efficiency and material recovery. This initiative links investment with measurable progress across the industry.

Progress is tracked through annual measures such as tons diverted, reuse rate, and packaging content clarity for the wrap used in snacks and beverages across major segments, enabling transparency for environmental timeframes. This approach aligns with each segment and sets clear milestones for environmental performance and consumer trust.

Policy dialogue should be proactive and engaged with regulators and industry associations to promote consistent standards and measures that align with extended producer responsibility and funding for recycling infrastructure.

Where coverage is strongest, scale composting opportunities and regrind technologies, while promoting reused packaging options and consumer education to raise demand for recycled content packaging across the most complex markets. Most progress is feasible in the snacks segment.

Practical roadmap to reduce virgin plastic in PepsiCo’s sustainability goals

Recommendation: Establish a system-wide baseline of inputs across packaging formats and set ambitions to cut reliance on new-input plastics by approximately 40% over the next five years, while prioritizing high-quality, plant-based and recycled-content options. Align this shift with the public agenda and meet expectations of consumers and producers, targeting measurable safety improvements and transparent reporting.

1. Baseline mapping and governance
   • Audit current packaging streams to quantify the share of new-input plastics and set earlier milestones toward a system-wide reduction.
   • Form a cross-functional team to drive changes and manage relationships with producers across markets.
   • Define safety and quality benchmarks to ensure substitutions meet high-quality standards without compromising performance.
2. Material choices and design for recyclability
   • Implement design guidelines that maximize recyclability among plastics, reduce material diversity, and enable efficient sorting.
   • Expand use of post-consumer recycled content in formulations where compatibility and safety can be ensured; target at least 30-50% recycled-content in core formats over the coming years.
   • Prioritize plant-based alternatives for high-volume formats where performance and cost support the switch; implement a suite of options that deliver the best compatibility and safety while maintaining public trust.
   • Design for a smaller set of polymer families per format to reduce complexity toward making recycling easier and less energy-intensive.
3. Supplier and producer relationships
   • Mandate contracts that include targets for recycled-content and plant-based feedstocks, with incentives to meet or exceed targets.
   • Involve producers earlier in product-design discussions to ensure feasibility and maintain safety and quality while pursuing system-wide changes.
4. Manufacturing and packaging operations
   • Reconfigure lines to handle a broader suite of feedstocks, prioritizing least-energy-intensive options and maintaining safety with high-quality performance without compromising uptime.
   • Invest in inline sorting and cleaning technologies to improve recycling rates and end-product quality; track metrics such as processing yield and contamination.
5. Recycling and end-of-life collection
   • Scale take-back programs in key markets to boost recycling rates among consumers; leverage public-private partnerships to expand capacity and ensure robust recovery.
   • Coordinate with recyclers to deploy advanced technologies that improve recyclate quality and enable system-wide circularity across society.
6. Public reporting, outreach, and societal impact
   • Publish progress benchmarks and insights to inform consumers and public audiences; emphasize how changes affect society and the public good.
   • Share case studies on collaborations with communities and stakeholders to build trust and strengthen relationships among consumers, public institutions, and industry players.

Define concrete targets: reduction of primary packaging material and timelines

Set a system-wide target for reducing the share of non-recycled inputs in packaging from 60% today to 40% by 2026, 25% by 2030, and 10% by 2035, with annual milestones and a clear audit trail that enables fair assessment of progress.

Establish a cross-functional committee to operate with accountability across regions, include china, and engage partners from sourcing, manufacturing, and product brands; the committee will track reducing targets, include major markets, align on guidance, and ensure progress is reflected in annual reviews; advocacy groups and actors outside the organization will inform decisions and validate performance.

Invest in infrastructure that supports a system-wide transition, including water-use improvements, improved sorting and recycling capacity, and best-in-class collection programs, to preserve shelf integrity and product safety while cutting the share of non-recycled inputs.

Engage informal networks where appropriate to contribute to progress; these efforts were supported by data from источник and by continued developments in the recycling ecosystem; consumers enjoyed cleaner packaging aesthetics and better experiences, which strengthens advocacy and partner confidence.

Define success metrics that include rate of reducing packaging material from non-recycled sources, rate of donor return programs, and share of shelf categories converted to recycled content; use rigorous methodology and guidance being updated to reflect new evidence to avoid bias and enable progress transparency; all data should be published on an annual basis and disaggregated by regions so that china and other markets can replicate best practices.

To sustain momentum, ensure continued investment and formalized commitments with suppliers, enabling operation at scale while contributing to fair outcomes for communities and customers; progress reports should reflect developments, and actors across sectors will be invited to review and adjust targets in annual cycles.

Map viable substitutes: recycled content, alternative materials, and packaging redesign

Recommendation: adopt changes across categories of packaging to increase recycled-content, test forward-looking alternative materials, and redesign the process to reduce material use while preserving health and safety. Establish a baseline, map changes, and initiate a sasb-aligned review to track progress and cement supplier commitments here.

In practice, segment the effort into categories: primary container (including partial-bottle designs where feasible), closures, and secondary packaging. For each category, target recycled-content levels and identify alternative materials with equivalent performance that meet health and safety requirements. Embrace new technologies such as mechanical recycling, chemical recycling, and barrier coatings to broaden the pool of viable options, while maintaining context of consumer safety and environmental impact. Those moves yield greater benefits by reducing virgin feedstock and cutting emissions. This approach applies across beverages.

Establish an initiative with clear agreement terms among internal teams and key suppliers. Create a baseline measurement, define process milestones, and track progress with targeted KPIs. Review data weekly during pilots, scale successful options, and publish progress to demonstrate green promises and health safeguards. Embrace those results as the catalyst for becoming mainstream choices within the beverages market.

Align packaging with recycling streams: materials standardization, labeling, and end-of-life processes

Adopt standardized formats across packaging to align with recycling streams, enabling more efficient sorting and increased recycled content in the market. They will enable the transition, allowing scaling toward a green, circular model. Additionally, another lever is to publish annually a report during the developing phase, with action items, derived insights from data, and a formal review cadence to monitor progress.

Labels must communicate material identity, color, and end-of-life direction, employing universal codes that sorting technology recognizes across the industry. This tagging approach, as told in the report, supports accurate sorting for black and non-black formats, reducing leaks during the recycling process. Previously, they were inconsistent.

Create a governance framework that ties design decisions to end-of-life infrastructure, with a cross-functional action plan. Annually review metrics to grow recycled-content share and continued improvements, and employ technology to derive sorting improvements and scaling indicators. The источник of data should be transparent, and third-party validation should accompany the report to accelerate trust.

Engage suppliers, retailers, and local authorities to align incentives and funding for pilots, with pilots expanding in developing markets. Track progress annually and report findings to accelerate industry-wide adoption, toward a universal recycling stream basis. This collaboration represents a necessary shift that should be measured against a clear set of industry benchmarks. Over the years, market participants will benefit.

Drive supplier and manufacturing transitions: procurement incentives, supplier milestones, and risk-sharing

Implement a tiered agreement that offers procurement incentives funded annually for suppliers who meet defined milestones tied to high-quality production and reduced water-use intensity.

Establish supplier milestones across regions, prioritizing on-time delivery, defect rate improvements, and employment growth, with payments unlocked only after verified progress and quality checks; derived savings fund further investments in these plants.

Adopt risk-sharing models to distribute volatility and operational risk: share savings from efficiency gains when targets are exceeded; apply price risk sharing for key inputs with clear guardrails and exit provisions.

Operate a cross-functional governance structure that uses an ellen platform to track metrics, publish non-sensitive data to policymakers, and facilitate explorations into new regions and product platforms, including snacks.

Ensure continuous improvement by an annual review that documents footprint reductions, water-use efficiency, and quality outcomes; learned experiences refine agreements and expand to additional suppliers while maintaining high-quality standards.

Build a policy engagement playbook: regulatory opportunities, stakeholder dialogues, and briefs for decision-makers

Recommendation: Launch a 12-month, time-bound policy engagement playbook that aligns regulatory opportunities, stakeholder dialogues, and briefs for decision-makers into a single suite. This forward-moving approach will meet regulatory expectations, deliver positive benefits, and strengthen the producer’s agenda within the beverages sector. It also advances toward a greater public profile and a constructive collaboration with civil society actors such as ellen and greenpeace.

1. Regulatory opportunities
   • Conduct a comprehensive landscape assessment across jurisdictions to identify incentives for higher recycled-content in polymer-based packaging, promote composting pathways, and support a whole-bottle return approach where feasible. Build a time-bound roadmap with clear milestones and defined metrics to track changes in material composition and end-of-life outcomes.
   • Align proposed amendments with existing policies under the producer responsibility framework (consortia and industry groups), ensuring the ability to scale pilots in flagship markets while maintaining public accountability and transparency. Source data and case studies from internal pilots and recognized sources to strengthen the policy briefings (источник).
   • Focus on regulatory opportunities that create a level playing field for beverage producers, reduce leakage, and spur innovation in packaging redesigns. Emphasize the benefits of a standardized labeling system that clarifies material streams and recycling viability to meet consumer expectations, while advancing toward measurable improvements in circularity.
2. Stakeholder dialogues
   • Establish a governance committee within the policy suite, including representation from producers, retailers, NGOs such as ellen and Greenpeace, academic experts, and public-advocacy groups. Schedule quarterly dialogues to advance a shared agenda and surface concerns from broader public audiences.
   • Design dialogues to explore concrete pathways for composting readiness, market uptake of rPET packaging, and incentives for extended producer responsibility. Use a structured format to capture feedback, map to a time-bound action plan, and report progress to the committee and the public.
   • Engage actors across the value chain in consortia to test whole-bottle concepts, pilot deposit-return schemes, and cross-border policy alignment. Document learnings and progressively scale toward greater system-level impact while maintaining an active public dialogue that reports on metrics and changes.
   • Develop a spring-fall calendar of roundtables and public briefings to meet diverse stakeholder needs, ensuring accessibility and inclusivity. Promote a constructive, forward-looking tone that reinforces the producer’s commitment to environmental stewardship and consumer trust.
3. Briefs for decision-makers
   • Produce concise, 1-page briefs for legislators and ministry officials that summarize regulatory opportunities, stakeholder inputs, and recommended actions. Include a clear forward-looking agenda, time-bound milestones, and a cost-benefit view focused on public benefits and market stability.
   • Embed a project-level rationale with KPIs, such as recycled-content targets, composting readiness indicators, and the rate of whole-bottle adoption. Use simple graphs and metrics to show changes over time and outline resource needs to meet each milestone.
   • Offer policy options in a decision-ready format, highlighting trade-offs, risks, and mitigation steps. Cross-reference with existing policies to ensure coherence and avoid policy fragmentation, enabling policymakers to act confidently toward a common environmental objective.
   • Publish a quarterly update that captures progress, demonstrates greater impact, and provides a source of truth (источник) for ongoing discussions. Ensure the briefs support an evidence-based, public-facing narrative that promotes accountability and trust.