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PepsiCo Europe is teaming up with <\/span>GreenDot Group<\/a><\/span> to recycle plastic waste back into materials that can be used for PepsiCo\u2019s snack packaging. The collaboration will aid in scaling GreenDot\u2019s recycling capabilities, including advanced (aka chemical) recycling.<\/span><\/p>\n The partners have not disclosed the amount or form of PepsiCo Europe\u2019s \u201cinvestment support\u201d for GreenDot.<\/span><\/p>\n Founded in Germany in 1990, GreenDot is an extended producer responsibility (EPR) management and circular-plastic recycling provider that produces high-quality recyclates, including from hard-to-recycle\u00a0waste streams.<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cThis agreement is an important milestone for the industry. It further paves the way towards a circular economy of plastic packaging, with the support of a new type of long-term collaboration between key players of the value chain,\u201d said Laurent Auguste, CEO of GreenDot, in a prepared statement.<\/span><\/p>\n The collaboration aligns with PepsiCo\u2019s goal to increase recycled content in its packaging and reduce its corporate carbon footprint. \u201cGreenDot will invest in developing plastic packaging-to-packaging recycling capacities, including advanced recycling of polyolefins, providing needed solutions at scale for the food industry,\u201d Auguste said.<\/span><\/p>\n GreenDot is currently expanding its German sorting\/recycling capabilities and developing sorting\/recycling assets in Austria and Italy. It is also building a network of mechanical and chemical recycling plants in Europe to supply brands and converters with circular polymers.<\/span><\/p>\n The timing of the collaboration, and its focus on flexible packaging materials, are both noteworthy. Flexible packaging across product categories, but especially for food, does not typically include recycled content.<\/span><\/p>\n However, through the Ellen MacArthur Global Commitment, <\/span>PepsiCo has vowed<\/a><\/span> to design 100% of its packaging to be recyclable, compostable, or reusable by 2025. That\u2019s a serious challenge for snack brands, as snacks are typically packaged in hard-to-recycle multilayer flexible materials.<\/span><\/p>\n The collaboration with GreenDot is also in line with PepsiCo Europe\u2019s goal to eliminate virgin fossil-based plastic in all its crisp and chip bags by 2030.<\/span><\/p>\n News of the collaboration complements the March 2024 announcement of PepsiCo Europe\u2019s work with GreenDot to develop premium-quality, 50%-recycled flexible packaging for Sunbites crisps.<\/span><\/p>\n The new Sunbites packaging rolled out in the United Kingdom and Ireland in late 2023, and PepsiCo Europe plans to launch it in more countries, shortly.<\/span><\/p>\n PepsiCo-Europe<\/p>\n<\/div>\n The new Sunbites packaging is made from food-grade film, which is in turn made from virgin-quality recycled polypropylene resin produced using pyrolysis oil derived from the chemical recycling of plastic waste. GreenDot ensured the supply of post-consumer plastic packaging waste for the project.<\/span><\/p>\n The other supply chain partners collaborating on the Sunbites initiative include resin producer <\/span>INEOS Olefins & Polymers Europe<\/a><\/span>, film converter <\/span>IRPLAST<\/a><\/span>, and flexible-packaging manufacturer <\/span>Amcor<\/a><\/span>.<\/span><\/p>\n The recycled content in the Sunbites packaging is allocated using the <\/span>mass balance<\/a><\/span> approach, with ISCC Plus certification from <\/span>International Sustainability & Carbon Certification (ISCC)<\/a><\/span>.<\/span><\/p>\nSunbites\u2019 50%-recycled packaging.<\/span><\/h2>\n