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Less (packaging) is more for locally based beverage giant
In an effort to hop aboard the “green” bandwagon, PepsiCo, headquartered in Purchase with more than 1,500 employees, has issued a redesign in the bottling of its non-carbonated products—including Lipton Iced Tea, Tropicana Juice Drinks, Aquafina FlavorSplash, and Aquafina Alive. These lighter bottles use 20 percent less plastic, in addition to a 10-percent reduction in label size and a 5-percent decrease in the shrink-wrap film used to wrap the multi-packs, according to Michelle Naughton, public relations representative for PepsiCo in Purchase. As a result, Naughton says, “we are able to eliminate twenty million pounds of waste from the environment.” Other beverage companies, such as Poland Spring, have begun to downsize their products as well.
But is this really good for the environment?
“We need to create less bottles—not less of the bottle,” says Michelle Land, program coordinator at Pace University for the Environment. “At the end of the day, we still have an unacceptable amount of bottles going in to the landfill.”
// Carrie Schmelkin
