Frito-Lay and Quaker announced the opening of an industry-leading Greenhouse Learning Center at its R&D headquarters.
The Learning Center will be used to field test, measure, and analyze compostable packaging with an aim to speed up the rate of innovation.
This facility represents a key milestone to achieve the company’s PepsiCo Positive (pep+) packaging goal to design 100 percent of packaging to be recyclable, compostable, biodegradable, or reusable by 2025.
The R&D packaging team will use the Greenhouse Learning Center to test the biodegradation properties of compostable packages in different environments to accelerate learning, validate lab results through simultaneous, real-time experiments as packaging formulations are improved, and iterate packaging solutions quicker
The Learning Center is intended to enable packaging products to move from testing to certification-ready at least two to three times faster in an effort to drive the business and the entire industry forward.
The new facility, the first of its kind across PepsiCo globally, is located next to and complements the existing prototyping lab where compostable packaging is born.
It also aims to actively change industry standards by educating partners and stakeholders on the benefits of transitioning to compostable packaging, demonstrating circularity with biodegradable materials, and providing training to co-ops and visitors.
The R&D team at Frito-Lay and Quaker has been conducting research and forming strategic partnerships for many years to improve the packaging process.
After releasing the world’s first 100% commercially compostable chip bags in 2010, Frito-Lay and Quaker continue to make progress in evolving their compostable packaging.
Building on its learnings from the launch of Off The Eaten Path’s next-generation, commercially compostable packaging, the company introduced other options made from 85% renewable plant materials that produce approximately 60% lower greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions than traditional snack bags.
Moving forward, the company will be focused on home-compostable packaging and packaging that’s biodegradable, and research conducted at the Greenhouse will play a key role.
PepsiCo has integrated sustainability into its business for several decades and, in 2021, the company announced PepsiCo Positive (pep+), an end-to-end transformation that puts sustainability at the center of how the company will create growth and value.
It has established goals under one comprehensive framework: Positive Agriculture, Positive Value Chain, and Positive Choices.
For more information about pep+ visit PepsiCo.com/PepsiCoPositive.