PepsiCo plans to eliminate virgin plastic from crisp packets

The corporation’s brands, which include Walkers crisps and Doritos, will eliminate all virgin fossil-based plastic in their bags, which will themselves then be completely recyclable.

New Walkers crisp packets will be trialled later this year, using material obtained from previously used plastic, including crisp packets, biscuit wrappers and shopping bags. PepsiCo says it can achieve a cut in greenhouse gas emissions of up to 40% per ton of packaging by making the switch.

Archana Jagannathan, senior director of sustainable packaging for PepsiCo Europe, said: “We know change is needed to reduce the amount of virgin fossil-based plastic used in our packaging, which is why we’re working with partners across the value chain to develop effective, scalable solutions to address this.

“At the same time, we need to make it easier for people to recycle their flexible plastics so that we can put this plastic back into the system and to good use.

“The food industry and retailers have invested to make this possible, with over 3,500 flexible plastic collection points at supermarkets across the country, making it convenient for people to drop off their packaging waste for recycling while shopping.

“Now, we’re urging the government to speed up their plans to introduce kerbside recycling collections, so that we can begin recycling flexible plastics at scale.”

PepsiCo is working in partnership with packaging supplier, Amcor, to help achieve its packaging changes across all of its European markets.

PepsiCo’s convenience foods portfolio in the UK includes Walkers, Pepsi Max, Doritos and Quaker.