2Sustain

PepsiCo now offers five options of eco-friendly, recyclable and compostable cups to its Foodservice customers in the US.

These new cup options include:

• fully recyclable clear plastic cups (one alternative is a rPET cup containing 20 percent post-consumer recycled content)

• compostable paper cups and wax cups made with plant-based materials sourced from sustainably managed forests

According to PepsiCo, the fountain cup portfolio mix empowers Foodservice customers –such as restaurants, stadiums and theme parks, and colleges and universities –to select the right green cup options based on locally available recycling and composting disposal facilities.

PepsiCo also sees the eco-friendly cups as a way to connect with consumers –particularly college and university students –who are increasingly interested in sustainable packaging options.

“The new cups are an advancement in technology, but also in the way we communicate,” said Margery Schelling, CMO PepsiCo Foodservice. “Customers increasingly are asking for environmental products that match changing needs, expectations and lifestyles. We want consumers to enjoy their favorite fountain beverages and feel good about the environmental impact of their purchases.”

In a press release, PepsiCo points out that the roll out of eco-friendly cups is aligned with the company’s global environmental goals and commitments, which include initiatives to reduce packaging waste, use rPET and renewable sources in packaging and increase the national beverage container recycling rate. Specific examples of PepsiCo innovations with respect to beverage packaging include: (more…)

The global packaging industry continues to view sustainability as a top priority.

Among 500 packaging professionals surveyed by DuPont earlier this spring, more than 40 percent consider sustainability the toughest challenge they face.  One-third (33 percent) of those in the poll named cost as a major factor.

DuPont also found that survey participants who are working on sustainable packaging reported a wide range of different strategies. For example: (more…)

It’s only May, but Cintas Corporation has already achieved significant environmental savings in 2011. The company credits these accomplishments to: 1) comprehensive document management services and 2) an innovative plastic-to-fiber process that allows Cintas to create garments from post-consumer material such as plastic water bottles.

In a press release, Cintas says its document management division offers an environmentally-conscious approach to protecting confidential business and personal information, including records from human resources and credit card receipts.

Thanks to the company’s secure SmartShred™ process, Cintas recycled the equivalent of planting 4.4 million trees during fiscal year 2011 –an incredibly impressive achievement that saved approximately: (more…)

Late last month, Caterpillar announced that two of its facilities achieved zero waste to landfill in 2010.

Both the Caterpillar Remanufacturing & Components Division United Kingdom Hose Assembly (UKHA) plant in Leicester, England and the Caterpillar Logistics Services (Cat Logistics) in Desford, England have reached 100-percent recycling for their operations.

In a press release, Caterpillar outlines specific accomplishments at each facility. For instance, at the Cat Logistics Services in Desford: (more…)

Starbucks wants 100 percent of its cups to be reusable or recyclable by 2015.

And, last month the company completed a six-week pilot project that brings it one step closer to reaching that goal.

Starbucks, working in partnership with International Paper and Mississippi River Pulp, LLC, proved that its used paper cups can be recycled into new paper cups. The successful pilot project means that used cup material generated by Starbucks (and other retailers) has potential value in the recycling industry.

“This innovation represents an important milestone in our journey,” Jim Hanna, Starbucks director of Environmental Impact, said. “We still have a lot of work to do to reach our 2015 goal, but we’re now in a much stronger position to build momentum across the recycling industry. Our next step is to test this concept in a major city, which we plan to do in collaboration with International Paper and Mississippi River in 2011.”

Starbucks is a pioneer in what’s known as the “cup-to-cup” concept. The company launched the industry’s first paper cup containing post-consumer recycled fiber (PCF) in 2006, following several years of collaboration with Mississippi River, the only pulp mill in the US that has successfully recycled used cups into fiber suitable for producing new cups. (more…)