PepsiCo, Waste Management Sign Multi-Year Partnership

Dream Machines recycling kiosks will be placed in high traffic areas.

PepsiCo and Waste Management Inc. announced a multi-year partnership in support of the Dream Machine recycling initiative. The initiative was designed around PepsiCo's goal of increasing the U.S. beverage container recycling rate from 34 percent to 50 percent by 2018.

Dream Machine kiosks are computerized receptacles that include a personal reward system that allows consumers to collect and redeem points for each bottle or can they recycle in the kiosk.

The program intends to provide funding to the Entrepreneurship Bootcamp for Veterans with Disabilities. 

Pepsi notes that at the present time, less than a third of plastic beverage containers are being recycled each year, and only 12 percent of public spaces are equipped with recycling receptacles. These numbers illustrate a need for greater public access to recycling bins.

The Dream Machine recycling initiative will introduce several thousand recycling kiosks in public venues such as gas stations, stadiums, and public parks to make it more convenient and rewarding for consumers. 

In addition to more than 50 machines being rolled out in Southern California, Rite Aid is set to be one of the first national retailers to sign on to the program, starting with 150 kiosks in their North Carolina locations. PepsiCo also entered into a partnership with Keep America Beautiful Inc. to encourage community involvement in the program by engaging nearly 600 local KAB affiliate organizations in communities nationwide. 

The Dream Machines will be provided by GreenOps, LLC, a subsidiary of Waste Management, and operated by Greenopolis, an interactive recycling system that brings together online and on street technologies and rewards people for recycling their beverage containers in kiosks. 

The multi-year agreement with Waste Management enables the local capture and recycling of PET and Aluminum, using both technology-enabled and non-technology enabled Dream Machines. 

To learn more about the Dream Machine, please visit www.facebook.com/DreamMachine.