PepsiCo, Waste Management, KAB Launch Dream Machine Recycling Initiative

PepsiCo (NYSE: PEP), Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE: WM), and Keep America Beautiful, Inc. (KAB) yesterday announced a multi-year partnership to increase recycling in the US through the deployments of kiosks, called Dream Machines.

The machines will manage a personal reward system that allows
consumers to collect and redeem points for each bottle or can they
recycle.

PepsiCo said it hopes to increase the U.S. beverage container recycling rate from 34% to 50% by 2018.

Currently, less than a third of plastic beverage containers are being recycled each year and only 12% of public spaces are equipped with recycling receptacles. The companies said thousands of Dream Machine kiosks will be placed in public venues such as gas stations, stadiums, and parks to make it more convenient and rewarding for consumers to recycle.

Nearly 600 local Keep America Beautiful organizations across the US have pledged their support for the Dream Machine initiative.

In addition to over fifty machines being rolled out in Southern California, Rite Aid (NYSE: RAD) is set to be one of the first national retailers to sign on to the program, starting with 150 kiosks in their North Carolina locations.

The Dream Machines will be provided by GreenOps, LLC, a subsidiary of Waste Management, and the rewards systme will be operated by Greenopolis.

"If every household in the U.S. recycled just three more plastic bottles a month, we could divert more than 23 million pounds of plastic from our landfills each month and increase the amount of recycled plastic used to manufacture new bottles," said Jeremy Cage, who heads the Dream Machine recycling initiative for PepsiCo.

The program also intends to provide funding to the Entrepreneurship
Bootcamp for Veterans with Disabilities (EBV), a national program
offering free, experiential training in entrepreneurship and small
business management to post-9/11 veterans with disabilities.

The companies have set up a Facebook page at the link below to provide more information.