PepsiCo, Waste Management Announce Partnership Designed to Improve On-the-Go Recycling

PepsiCo, Purchase, N.Y., and Waste Management Inc., Houston, have announced a multi-year partnership to support the Dream Machine recycling initiative 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, allowing consumers to collect and redeem points for each bottle or can they recycle in the kiosk.

The program will provide funding to the Entrepreneurship Bootcamp for Veterans with Disabilities (EBV), a national program offering free, experiential training in entrepreneurship and small business management to post-9/11 veterans with disabilities. PepsiCo says its relationship with EBV is a natural extension of the company’s current partnership with American Corporate Partners, a nationwide mentoring program dedicated to helping veterans transition from the armed services to private enterprise.

The Dream Machine recycling initiative will introduce thousands of new recycling kiosks in popular public venues, such as gas stations, stadiums and public parks, to make it more convenient and rewarding for consumers to recycle on the go. Fifty of these machines will be rolled out in Southern California, and Rite Aid is set to be one of the first national retailers to sign on to the program, starting with 150 kiosks in its North Carolina locations.

PepsiCo also has entered into a partnership with Keep America Beautiful Inc. (KAB), Stamford, Conn., to encourage community involvement in the program by engaging nearly 600 local KAB affiliate organizations in communities nationwide. 

GreenOps LLC, a subsidiary of Waste Management, will provide the Dream Machines, and Greenopolis will operate them.

“It takes only a small change in behavior to make a big difference for our planet. If every household in the U.S. recycled just three more plastic bottles a month, we could divert more than 23 million pounds of plastic from our landfills each month and increase the amount of recycled plastic used to manufacture new bottles,” says Jeremy Cage of PepsiCo and head of the Dream Machine recycling initiative. “We’ve built in emotional and material rewards, including support of the Entrepreneurship Bootcamp for Veterans with Disabilities, to help motivate people who do not actively recycle to join the movement.”

David Aardsma, senior vice president of sales and marketing for Waste Management, says, “As the largest recycler in North America, we know that convenience is key to increasing capture rates of recyclable materials, especially in public spaces. Our investment in innovative recycling technologies like GreenOps furthers our goal of providing customers with cost-efficient, environmental solutions and improving recycling rates across the country.”