Suntory PepsiCo has chosen PET (Polyethylene Terephthalate) plastic as the packaging for all its beverages. The clear colorless used PET bottles are 100% recyclable and have a higher purchasing value than colored bottles. This is because it is easy to recycle. Clear colorless PET bottles can be recycled and converted into a variety of products such fiber for clothing and automotive parts. In addition, Suntory PepsiCo has developed technology in the production process as well as designed packaging with suppliers, resulting in a Lightweight Plastic that helps reduce the use of new plastics for production of each bottle. Nevertheless, these bottles retain good properties according to packaging standards that are clean, safe, lightweight, strong and resistant to impact and environmentally friendly making them easy to manage.
In addition the bottle, bottle caps and labels are also made from 100% recyclable materials. All bottle caps are made from HDPE (High Density Polyethylene), a high-density but lightweight plastic material. This helps to reduce the use of virgin plastic in production and can also 100% recyclable. At present, all colour printed on the Pepsi bottle caps have been removed to reduce the use of chemicals in the recycling process. Bottle labels are made of 2 types of plastic, namely Shrink Sleeve Label made from PET and Wrap-around Label (Oriented Polypropylene Label) made from PP (Polypropylene) by using production technology to reduce the amount of plastic compared to the weight per piece of label.
Mr. Ashish Joshi, Chief Executive Officer, Suntory PepsiCo Beverage (Thailand) Company Limited said, "Packaging Sustainability Management is one of the most important sustainability policies of the company. Suntory PepsiCo's commitment to reducing the use of virgin plastic since 2018, has resulted in the company being able to achieve reductions totaling 531.6 tons. The company also initiated a waste segregation education project in schools and communities. Further, the company has joined hands with business partners such as Wongpanit, a major recycling firm in Thailand, which announced the purchase of clear colorless PET bottles from Suntory PepsiCo at a price higher than ordinary PET bottles with an additional 1 baht per kilogram. Other initiatives have included a pilot project with new technology such as the 'ReFun Machine'. Earlier this year, in collaboration with CP All, 10 ReFun machines were installed in front of 10 Seven Eleven convenience stores in Bangkok and Metropolitan areas. The main objective is to promote proper waste segregation to consumers and bring used PET plastic bottles back into the systematic recycling process."
Source: 124 Communications Consulting