PepsiCo Doubles Down on Reusable Packaging Options

More food and CPG companies are launching moonshot goals to reduce their packaging material and shift toward more sustainable packaging options. As our team predicted a couple of years ago, the move toward circular material cycles continues to rise and companies are looking for ways to disrupt the traditional take-make-waste production model. Scalability has been—and will continue to be—a big challenge. While single-use plastics remain the norm for beverage companies, emerging legislation, increased consumer awareness and investor pressure will hopefully turn the tide toward more sustainable packaging. PepsiCo’s latest focus on reusable and circular options will surely have a ripple effect in the market, with hopes to unlock perceived barriers to scale that have prevented others from adopting similar pilots. PepsiCo, along with many peers like Coca-Cola and General Mills, have been targeted by the investor community asking for increased ambitions around sustainable packaging. We expect to see plastics and circularity to continue to be strong issues for shareholder advocacy over the coming year.