When consumers finish a bottle of their favorite beverage, the ideal outcome is for that bottle to be recycled and reused. This concept lies at the core of packaging circularity, which focuses on keeping materials in use for as long as possible instead of sending them to landfills.
While many beverage bottles move efficiently through existing recycling systems, several everyday plastic products remain difficult to recycle. Items such as old carpets, clothing fibers, plastic films, and certain colored or opaque containers often fall outside traditional recycling processes and frequently end up as waste.
Giving Waste a Second Life
To address this challenge, PepsiCo is leveraging advanced recycling technologies that can transform hard-to-recycle plastics into high-quality, food-grade packaging materials. Through a multi-year agreement with Eastman, the company is sourcing recycled materials created from discarded polyester-based plastic waste. As a result, PepsiCo can reduce its dependence on virgin plastic while increasing the use of recycled content in its packaging.
In fact, PepsiCo has already started rolling out Gatorade bottles in the United States that contain recycled plastic enabled by Eastman’s advanced recycling technology. This initiative demonstrates how materials once destined for disposal can return to the market as new beverage packaging.
As per the PepsiCo press release, this technology allows plastics that traditionally could not be recycled to re-enter the packaging value chain, creating new opportunities for circularity.
How Advanced Recycling Works
Traditional mechanical recycling remains an important part of the recycling ecosystem. The process involves collecting, sorting, cleaning, melting, and reshaping used plastics into new products. However, mechanical recycling has limitations, particularly when dealing with colored, opaque, or mixed plastic materials.
Advanced recycling addresses these challenges by breaking plastic waste down to its molecular building blocks. The technology then purifies these materials and rebuilds them into high-quality recycled plastics that closely match virgin plastic in performance and appearance. Consequently, manufacturers can create durable, food-grade packaging from materials that would otherwise be discarded.
Supporting a More Circular Future
Although advanced recycling offers significant potential, PepsiCo emphasizes that it is not a standalone solution. Instead, the company views it as a complementary approach that works alongside mechanical recycling, improved waste collection systems, better packaging design, and stronger recycling infrastructure.
By investing in multiple solutions, PepsiCo aims to reduce the use of virgin plastic, divert more waste from landfills, and support the development of a more circular packaging economy. Ultimately, transforming old carpets and other difficult-to-recycle materials into new bottles represents another step toward a future where packaging remains in continuous use rather than becoming waste.
