PepsiCo invests $15M in Closed Loop Partners’ Leadership Fund

PepsiCo Beverages North America, Purchase, New York, has invested $15 million in New York-based Closed Loop Partners’ Leadership Fund to help the private equity fund strengthen recycling infrastructure and build circular supply chains.

According to a news release from PepsiCo, the investment is in line with the company’s target to cut virgin plastic from nonrenewable sources across its food and beverage portfolios by 50 percent by 2030. In the U.S., all Pepsi-branded products are expected to be converted to 100 percent recycled polyethylene terephthalate (rPET) bottles by 2030, with Pepsi Zero Sugar beginning to be sold in 100 percent rPET bottles by 2022.

PepsiCo’s 2020 Sustainability Report indicates that 87 percent of the company’s packaging is currently recyclable, compostable or biodegradable. According to the company, this latest investment with Closed Loop Partners’ Leadership Fund could help to drive more collection of recycled materials for use in its packaging.

“The recycling landscape in America continues to be challenging, and as companies—including PepsiCo—set ambitious goals to use more recycled content in their packaging, there is more need than ever for partnerships and action to increase access to recycled material,” says Jason Blake, chief sustainability officer and senior vice president at PepsiCo Beverages North America. “We are honored to expand our partnership with Closed Loop Partners through this investment to advocate for and advance the necessary work that is being done to transform the recycling system.”

“Demand for recycled materials in packaging is growing at an unprecedented rate, signaling an opportunity for greater investment in the recycling infrastructure that keeps these commodities in play. At Closed Loop Partners, we are committed to strengthening the circular systems that make this possible,” says Ron Gonen, founder and CEO of Closed Loop Partners. “PepsiCo’s investment in the Closed Loop Leadership Fund builds on its existing partnership with our firm, setting a clear path forward for the food and beverage industry to advance circular supply chains for packaging. We look forward to continuing our long-standing partnership with PepsiCo and the beverage industry in building a more waste-free world.”

According to PepsiCo, the company has partnered with Closed Loop Partners in the past as well. In 2014, PepsiCo was a founding member of the Closed Loop Fund, which is now known as the Closed Loop Infrastructure Fund. That fund provides investments that cities, counties and businesses in the U.S. use to move recycling to the next level, such as investments in new trucks and technology to help material recovery facilities.

PepsiCo also is an investor in the Closed Loop Partners’ Beverage Fund through American Beverage’s Every Bottle Back initiative, which aims to improve the collection of the industry’s PET bottles so that more bottles can be made into rPET.

Additionally, PepsiCo became a founding partner of Closed Loop Partners’ Composting Consortium this year, which brings together voices in the composting ecosystem in the U.S. to identify ways to increase the recovery of compostable food packaging.