PURCHASE, N.Y., Dec. 14, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- PepsiCo
Beverages North America announced today a $15 million investment in Closed Loop
Partners' Leadership Fund, a private equity fund that acquires and
grows companies, including in the packaging value chain, to
strengthen recycling infrastructure and build circular supply
chains that keep materials out of landfills.
"The recycling landscape in America continues to be challenging,
and as companies – including PepsiCo – set ambitious goals to use
more recycled content in their packaging, there is more need than
ever for partnerships and action to increase access to recycled
material," said Jason Blake, Chief
Sustainability Officer and SVP at PepsiCo Beverages North America.
"Through PepsiCo Positive, our end-to-end strategic transformation
agenda, sustainability is at the heart of everything we do. We are
honored to expand our partnership with Closed Loop Partners through
this investment to advocate for and advance the necessary work that
is being done to transform the recycling system."
"Demand for recycled materials in packaging is growing at an
unprecedented rate, signaling an opportunity for greater investment
in the recycling infrastructure that keeps these commodities in
play. At Closed Loop Partners, we are committed to strengthening
the circular systems that make this possible," says Ron Gonen, Founder & CEO of Closed Loop
Partners. "PepsiCo's investment in the Closed Loop Leadership Fund
builds on its existing partnership with our firm, setting a clear
path forward for the food and beverage industry to advance circular
supply chains for packaging. We look forward to continuing our
long-standing partnership with PepsiCo and the beverage industry in
building a more waste-free world."
This investment reinforces PepsiCo's desire to create a world
where packaging never becomes waste and the company's plans to
increase recycling rates in the United
States, while simultaneously unlocking access to incremental
recycled plastic supply. It aims to help propel progress against
PepsiCo's target to cut virgin plastic from non-renewable sources
across our food and beverage portfolios by 50% by 2030. In the
U.S., all Pepsi-branded products are expected to be converted to
100% rPET bottles by 2030, with Pepsi Zero Sugar beginning to be
sold in 100% rPET bottles by 2022. As shared in the 2020
Sustainability Report, PepsiCo reported that 87% of its packaging
is recyclable, compostable, or biodegradable and this investment
with Closed Loop Partners' Leadership Fund will only help to drive
even more collection of these valuable materials for use in our
packaging.
PepsiCo has a long history of partnering with Closed Loop
Partners to make strides on material recovery and infrastructure
advancements:
- In 2014, PepsiCo became a founding member of the Closed Loop
Fund, now known as the Closed Loop Infrastructure Fund,
which has provided investments that cities, counties, and
businesses in the U.S. use to take the steps necessary to move
recycling to the next level, including new trucks for
pick-up/hauling and cutting-edge technology to make materials
recovery facilities work more efficiently.
- Through American Beverage's Every Bottle Back
Initiative, PepsiCo is an investor in the Closed Loop
Partners' Beverage Fund, which seeks to improve the collection
of the industry's valuable plastic bottles so they can be made into
new bottles using rPET. This fund partners with other beverage
companies, as well as nonprofits and NGOs like The Recycling
Partnership and World Wildlife Fund to reduce their plastic
footprints, improve recycling access, provide education to
residents, and modernize recycling infrastructure in communities
across the country.
- In 2021, PepsiCo became a founding partner of Closed Loop
Partners' Composting Consortium, which brings together
leading voices in the composting ecosystem in the United States to identify the best path
forward to increase the recovery of compostable food packaging and
drive toward circular outcomes.
About PepsiCo
PepsiCo products are enjoyed by
consumers more than one billion times a day in more than 200
countries and territories around the world. PepsiCo generated more
than $70 billion in net revenue in 2020, driven by a
complementary food and beverage portfolio that includes Frito-Lay,
Gatorade, Pepsi-Cola, Quaker, Tropicana, and SodaStream. PepsiCo's
product portfolio includes a wide range of enjoyable foods and
beverages, including 23 brands that generate more than $1
billion each in estimated annual retail sales.
Guiding PepsiCo is our vision to Be the Global Leader in
Convenient Foods and Beverages by Winning with Purpose. "Winning
with Purpose" reflects our ambition to win sustainably in the
marketplace and embed purpose into all aspects of our business
strategy and brands. For more information,
visit pepsico.com.
About the Closed Loop Leadership Fund at Closed Loop
Partners
The Closed Loop Leadership Fund is Closed Loop Partners' private
equity fund, focused on acquiring best-in-class circular business
models that are fundamental to keeping plastics and packaging, food
and organics, electronics and textiles out of landfills and within
a circular system. Closed Loop Partners is a New York-based investment firm comprised of
venture capital, growth equity, private equity, project-based
finance and an innovation center focused on building the circular
economy. The firm's business verticals build upon one another,
bridging gaps and fostering synergies to scale the circular
economy.
To learn about the Closed Loop Leadership Fund, visit Closed
Loop Partners' website.
PepsiCo Cautionary Statement
This release contains
statements that constitute "forward-looking statements" within the
meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995.
Forward-looking statements are generally identified through the
inclusion of words such as "aim," "anticipate," "believe," "drive,"
"estimate," "expect," "goal," "intend," "may," "plan," "project,"
"strategy," "target" and "will" or similar statements or variations
of such terms and other similar expressions. Forward-looking
statements inherently involve risks and uncertainties that could
cause actual results to differ materially from those predicted in
such statements, including future demand for PepsiCo's products;
damage to PepsiCo's reputation or brand image; political or social
conditions in the markets where PepsiCo's products are made,
manufactured, distributed or sold; climate change or measures to
address climate change; changes in laws and regulations related to
the use or disposal of plastics or other packaging of PepsiCo's
products; failure to comply with applicable laws and regulations;
and potential liabilities and costs from litigation, claims, legal
or regulatory proceedings, inquiries or investigations. For
additional information on these and other factors that could cause
PepsiCo's actual results to materially differ from those set forth
herein, please see PepsiCo's filings with the Securities and
Exchange Commission, including its most recent annual report on
Form 10-K and subsequent reports on Forms 10-Q and 8-K. Investors
are cautioned not to place undue reliance on any such
forward-looking statements, which speak only as of the date they
are made. PepsiCo undertakes no obligation to update any
forward-looking statement, whether as a result of new information,
future events or otherwise.
Contact: mediarelations@pepsico.com
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SOURCE PepsiCo, Inc.