The program also intends to provide funding to the Entrepreneurship Bootcamp for Veterans with Disabilities (EBV), a national [image-nocss] program offering free, experiential training in entrepreneurship and small-business management to post-9/11 veterans with disabilities. The relationship with EBV is an extension of PepsiCo's current partnership with American Corporate Partners, a nationwide mentoring program dedicated to helping veterans transition from the armed services to private enterprise.
PepsiCo incorporates 10% recycled plastic in U.S. soft drink containers. Currently, less than a third of plastic beverage containers are being recycled each year and only 12% of public spaces are equipped with recycling receptacles, illustrating a need for greater public access to recycling bins, said Pepsi.
The Dream Machine recycling initiative will introduce thousands of new recycling kiosks in popular public venues such as gas stations, stadiums and public parks to make it more convenient and rewarding for consumers to recycle on the go. In addition to more than 50 machines being rolled out in Southern California, Rite Aid is set to be one of the first national retailers to sign on to the program, starting with 150 kiosks in its North Carolina locations.
PepsiCo has also entered into a partnership with Keep America Beautiful Inc. (KAB) to encourage community involvement in the program by engaging nearly 600 local KAB affiliate organizations in communities nationwide.
The Dream Machines will be provided by GreenOps LLC, a subsidiary of Waste Management, and operated by Greenopolis, the first interactive recycling system that brings together online and on street technologies and rewards people for recycling their beverage containers in kiosks by allowing them to receive awards when they visit www.greenopolis.com.
"It takes only a small change in behavior to make a big difference for our planet. If every household in the U.S. recycled just three more plastic bottles a month, we could divert more than 23 million pounds of plastic from our landfills each month and increase the amount of recycled plastic used to manufacture new bottles," said Jeremy Cage, PepsiCo'shead of the Dream Machine recycling initiative. "We've built in emotional and material rewards, including support of the Entrepreneurship Bootcamp for Veterans with Disabilities, to help motivate people who do not actively recycle to join the movement."
The multi-year agreement with Waste Management enables the local capture and recycling of PET and aluminum, using both technology-enabled and nontechnology-enabled Dream Machines.
"As the largest recycler in North America, we know that convenience is key to increasing capture rates of recyclable materials, especially in public spaces," said David Aardsma, senior vice president of sales and marketing for Waste Management. "Our investment in innovative recycling technologies like GreenOps furthers our goal of providing customers with cost-efficient, environmental solutions and improving recycling rates across the country."
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