PepsiCo Unveils World's First, 100% Renewable Food-Based PET Bottle

PepsiCo just unveiled a brand new, 100% renewable PET plastic bottle made entirely from plant-based resources that could revolutionize the bottling industry. Coca-Cola and other consumer giants have also made their commitment to producing sustainable packaging known, but until now, none have come as far as Pepsi when it comes to totally renewable bottles. PepsiCo’s pilot project will take off in 2012, after which the company intends to launch full-scale commercial production.

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PepsiCo’s latest development comes on the heels of their various earlier, groundbreaking initiatives, including these compostable Sun Chips bags, but could be their most revolutionary to date. Polyethylene terepthalate (PET) bottles are the scourge of the planet, given that they are not biodegradable and rely on petroleum for production.

Made from PepsiCo’s own agricultural scraps, the new “green” bottles will have a significantly-reduced carbon footprint. To begin with, they will be made from switch-grass, pine bark, and corn husks, though in time, the company hopes to also utilize orange peels, potato peels, and oat hulls.

PepsiCo’s Chairman and CEO Indra Nooyi says that this new product evolved out of the company’s steadfast commitment to research and development. And the San-Francisco based As You Sow foundation, which promotes corporate environmental and social responsibility, praised PepsiCo’s advancement as a double win for the company and the environment.

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2 thoughts on “PepsiCo Unveils World’s First 100% Renewable Food-Based PET Bottle”

tacdab March 21, 2011 at 9:51 pm

How is it good news? They're taking compostable organic material -- nature's own fertilizer -- and turning it into a synthetic that won't really decompose away even after 1,000 years. That doesn't sound like good news. Plus, the plastics lobby themselves argue that petroleum-based plastic is made from natural gas by-products of oil drilling -- stuff that would otherwise be flared off or go to waste. So making plastic from plants doesn't seem likely to cut down on petroleum/fossil-fuel use in any meaningful way. Lastly, plastic "recycling" is merely downcycling. Go to a grocery store. Look at all the thousands of #1 PET soda/water/juice bottles they have. Find one that says "made using recycled PET." One, among all the rows and shelves. Not going to happen. Plastic is junk, at best junk that can be kicked down the road another cycle or two before it becomes too uneconomical to make anything out of. The industry uses a buzzword like "100% recyclable" and even journalists now take them at their word without digging deeper. Frustrating. Go to NAPCOR, the #1 PET industry's own website. Using their own reports, you can see within seconds that now the majority of "recycled" #1 plastic is being dumped on China and other developed nations, to be turned into junk plastic packaging for the stuff we buy at Target & Walmart. Closing the loop? Madness. Taking the earth's own nourishment and turning it into something that'll get used once, maybe twice, and then live on for a thousand years is not green. It's folly. The reality of this achievement is that, even if we manage to wean ourselves off of fossil fuel use, corporations will now still be able to churn out millions of tons of non-degradable, faux-"recyclable" plastics to collect in parks, rivers, & ocean gyres. Business as usual. And a complete, utter greenwash.

acootis March 15, 2011 at 2:30 pm

will they be biodegradeable, compostable, recycleable, or reusable, too?

tacdab March 21, 2011 at 9:51 pm

How is it good news? They're taking compostable organic material -- nature's own fertilizer -- and turning it into a synthetic that won't really decompose away even after 1,000 years. That doesn't sound like good news. Plus, the plastics lobby themselves argue that petroleum-based plastic is made from natural gas by-products of oil drilling -- stuff that would otherwise be flared off or go to waste. So making plastic from plants doesn't seem likely to cut down on petroleum/fossil-fuel use in any meaningful way. Lastly, plastic "recycling" is merely downcycling. Go to a grocery store. Look at all the thousands of #1 PET soda/water/juice bottles they have. Find one that says "made using recycled PET." One, among all the rows and shelves. Not going to happen. Plastic is junk, at best junk that can be kicked down the road another cycle or two before it becomes too uneconomical to make anything out of. The industry uses a buzzword like "100% recyclable" and even journalists now take them at their word without digging deeper. Frustrating. Go to NAPCOR, the #1 PET industry's own website. Using their own reports, you can see within seconds that now the majority of "recycled" #1 plastic is being dumped on China and other developed nations, to be turned into junk plastic packaging for the stuff we buy at Target & Walmart. Closing the loop? Madness. Taking the earth's own nourishment and turning it into something that'll get used once, maybe twice, and then live on for a thousand years is not green. It's folly. The reality of this achievement is that, even if we manage to wean ourselves off of fossil fuel use, corporations will now still be able to churn out millions of tons of non-degradable, faux-"recyclable" plastics to collect in parks, rivers, & ocean gyres. Business as usual. And a complete, utter greenwash.
acootis March 15, 2011 at 2:30 pm

will they be biodegradeable, compostable, recycleable, or reusable, too?

PepsiCo Unveils World’s First 100% Renewable Food-Based PET Bottle

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PepsiCo Unveils World's First 100% Renewable Food-Based PET Bottle

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