PepsiCo is making an effort to encourage consumers to dispose of Doritos and Cheetos bags in compost bins.

• By 2025, PepsiCo aims to create 100% of its packaging to be recyclable, compostable, biodegradable, or reusable, as it owns Frito-Lay and Quaker Oats.
• PepsiCo Foods North America CEO Steven Williams stated at CNBC's Sustainable Returns virtual event that although these things are challenging, the company is fully committed to it.
• In April, Quaker Oats and Frito-Lay launched a new center for packaging innovation to test compostable materials.

Despite the pandemic lockdowns and the subsequent increase in inflation, consumers continue to purchase a variety of salty snacks, including chips and crackers.

PepsiCo has experienced double-digit revenue growth in 2022 due to the continued demand for snacks, thanks to its Frito-Lay North America and Quaker Foods North America subsidiaries, which produce products like Lay's, Doritos, Cheetos, Tostitos, and Quaker Oats. However, the increase in sales of chip bags and snack containers also results in more waste from plastic and other packaging materials, which PepsiCo aims to address.

PepsiCo Foods North America CEO Steven Williams announced that the company aims to achieve 100% recyclable, compostable, biodegradable, or reusable packaging by 2025.

Williams stated during the CNBC Sustainable Returns event that the company employs various packaging strategies to achieve its objectives. Although these methods are challenging, Williams emphasized that the company is fully committed to their implementation.

While the technology for biodegradable packaging is still in its early stages, Williams stated that the company has taken several steps towards achieving its objective.

He observed multipack packages, which are formally known as Lay's variety packs that contain various types and brands of chips.

He stated that two years ago, our multipack packages containing one ounce size in servings were made of outer plastic. However, we have since moved that from plastic to recyclable cardboard.

PepsiCo announced that a single move was responsible for removing 12 million pounds of plastic from the environment, the company stated.

Activist investors and shareholders, including As You Sow, have been pushing for reusable packaging with consumer products giants in recent years, and the current annual meeting and proxy voting season is no exception. McDonald's recently agreed under pressure from activist shareholders to produce a report on reusable packaging in exchange for having a shareholder vote on the issue rescinded. Last year, similar resolutions aimed at Coca-Cola Co. and PepsiCo were removed when they agreed to new reusables goals. Coke announced the largest reusable packaging pledge — 25% of beverages by volume in reusables or refillables by 2030, followed by Pepsi's goal of 20% of beverages in reusables by 2030.

Frito-Lay has been working on integrating compostable packaging for over a decade, with Coke and Pepsi cutting ties with a plastics industry association and issuing recyclable, compostable and reusable packaging goals as far back as 2019.

In April 2021, Frito-Lay launched an industrially compostable bag for its Off The Eaten Path brand, which are snacks made from vegetables and chickpeas. The packaging is primarily made from plant-based sources, and consumers can either mail the packaging back in to be composted or drop it off at a local composting location.

Frito-Lay and Quaker Oats launched a new learning center for packaging innovation at Frito-Lay's research and development headquarters in Texas. The center aims to speed up the process of testing compostable packaging for certification by at least two to three times.

Frito-Lay has created packaging made from 85% renewable plant materials that emit 60% less greenhouse gases than traditional snack bags.

The company aims to share its learnings on home-compostable and biodegradable packaging with the entire industry.

Williams stated that achieving the goals requires the collaboration of technology developers, partners, and manufacturers in our industry.

The corrected version of this story states that the changes made to multipack packages resulted in the removal of approximately 12 million pounds of plastic, as opposed to the incorrect figure previously provided by PepsiCo.