2Sustain

PepsiCo wants to reduce the carbon footprint of Tropicana Pure Premium orange juice.

A year ago, the company partnered with the Carbon Trust to conduct a lifecycle analysis of its orange juice and discovered that the largest single source of carbon emissions  –approximately 35 percent — was fertilizer use and application for the growing process.

So now, Tropicana, in tandem with one of its long-time growers, SMR Farms in Bradenton, Fla., is launching a groundbreaking pilot program to determine whether using innovative, alternative fertilizers could significantly reduce the carbon footprint associated with the agricultural production of oranges. If successful, this change could reduce the total carbon footprint of Tropicana Pure Premium by as much as 15 percent.

Two lower-carbon fertilizers will be tested. (more…)

Interesting article on the front page of the Business section of today’s New York Times. Andrew Martin reports that PepsiCo is scheduled to announce carbon-footprint numbers for its Tropicana orange juice later today.

That’s big news because it signals that global corporations like PepsiCo are paying attention to things like GHG emissions and carbon footprint analyses –and that they’re now moving those findings off the pages of their CSR reports and out into the public eye.

(more…)