Plano-based Frito-Lay opened a new Greenhouse Learning Center earlier this month at its research and development headquarters to develop a chip bag that can be composted at home as part of PepsiCo’s Pep+ Initiative.
“We really want to drive the entire industry forward,” he said, by sharing sustainable practices — and even technology — with partners and stakeholders at no cost,” PepsiCo Foods North America Chief Sustainability Officer David Allen said. “We must work together to inspire positive change for the planet and people, and Frito-Lay and Quaker are proud to be leading the way,” Allen said.
Frito-Lay’s current compostable bag, introduced in 2021, was industrially compostable and made from 85% renewable plant materials. According to the company, it creates about 60% lower greenhouse gas emissions than traditional packaging.
Currently, customers can take bags marked “Off the Eaten Path” and drop them off at a designated drop-off point (there are none listed on the site in the Dallas metroplex) or mail the bags to the facility by printing a label found online and shipping it.
The company’s new goal is to make bags that customers can compost in their own homes.
“Our sustainable packaging vision is to build a world where packaging need never become waste,” said Denise Lefebvre, senior vice president of R&D for PepsiCo. “We are prioritizing, investing in and expediting projects to build a more circular, inclusive economy.”
Currently, the greenhouse has several see-through compost bins to show how quickly new prototypes will biodegrade in a variety of conditions. PepsiCo’s Pep+ initiative aims to make 100% of packaging compostable, biodegradable, recyclable or reusable by 2025, which means we may see these at-home compostable bags within the next two years.
Frito-Lay makes this announcement ahead of this year’s Earth Day, held annually on April 22. According to EarthDay.org, the amount of plastic produced in a year is roughly the same as the entire weight of humanity, and roughly half of that is destined to single-use products.
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