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Corporate Social Responsibility
News
7.30.2007 - 02:50pm ET
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EPA Recognizes Pepsi's Three Anchor Bottlers Among Nation's Top Purchasers of Renewable Energy Certificates
(CSRwire) PURCHASE, N.Y. - July 30, 2007 - In an effort to extend PepsiCo's
sustainability efforts to the supply chain, the three largest Pepsi-Cola
bottlers in North America announced today that they are each purchasing
renewable energy certificates (RECs) to match 100% of the electricity used
by their U.S. operations. Combined, The Pepsi Bottling Group, Inc.,
PepsiAmericas, Inc. and Pepsi Bottling Ventures, LLC are purchasing nearly
629 million kilowatt hours (kWh) of green power annually through RECs.
Together the purchases of these three companies would rank second among
the largest purchases within the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's
Green Power Partnership, behind top-ranked PepsiCo.
Green power is produced from renewable resources such as solar, wind,
geothermal, biogas, biomass and low-impact hydro. These energy sources are
considered cleaner and have a superior environmental profile than
conventional sources of electricity. Purchasing RECs helps drive the
development of additional green power capacity nationwide.
Today, the U.S. EPA updated each of its top partner lists, highlighting
the largest purchasers in the Green Power Partnership. The list highlights
EPA Green Power Partners that have completed the largest annual purchases
of green power through July 9, 2007. EPA updates its Top Partner lists
quarterly, which are available at http://www.epa.gov/greenpower/partners/top25.htm.
Here are specifics about each of the bottlers' purchases:
The Pepsi Bottling Group, Inc. is purchasing RECs to match nearly
458 million kWh of power. This individual purchase ranks them No. 4 on
EPA's Top 25 list. They are also participating in EPA's Fortune 500 Green
Power Challenge and currently rank No. 4 among participating Fortune 500
partners. The goal of this campaign is roughly to double the existing REC
purchases among Fortune 500 Green Power Partners in order to exceed 5
billion kWh of collective purchasing annually. Currently, there are nearly
50 Fortune 500 companies in EPA's Green Power Partnership. The Challenge
concludes at the end of 2007.
PepsiAmericas, Inc. is purchasing RECs to match more than 157 million
kWh of power. This individual purchase ranks No. 13 on EPA's Top 25 list.
Pepsi Bottling Ventures, LLC is purchasing RECs to match nearly 15
million kWh of power.
In April, PepsiCo announced it was purchasing RECs to match more than 1.1
billion kWh of power, becoming the largest purchaser to date under EPA's
Green Power Partner program. PepsiCo has maintained that leadership
position and remains the No. 1 purchaser on EPA's Top 25 list. Following
its own purchase, PepsiCo reached out to the three largest Pepsi-Cola
bottlers and encouraged them to purchase green power certificates.
"The purchases made by these three bottlers represent a broader effort by
our entire system to work together and continue what PepsiCo started in
April with its record purchase," said Dawn Hudson, president and CEO of
Pepsi-Cola North America. "This represents a collective approach to
protecting the environment and becoming more sustainable in the long-term
- something our consumers, customers, employees and investors can feel
good about. It's all part of PepsiCo's commitment to Performance with
Purpose - to do better by doing better."
"America is shifting to a 'green culture,' with more and more businesses
understanding that environmental responsibility is everyone's
responsibility," said Marcus Peacock, EPA's Deputy Administrator. "EPA
commends the Pepsi bottlers for making a long-term commitment to
protecting the environment."
All three Pepsi bottlers are purchasing RECs from Sterling Planet, a
leading green power marketer. The bottlers' purchase of certificates will
support the development of a combination of wind, small scale hydro
electric, biomass, landfill gas, biogas and geothermal resources.
Sterling Planet, a leading green power marketer and supplier of RECs, was
also the supplier of RECs for PepsiCo's own green power purchase of more
than 1.1 billion kilowatt-hours earlier this year.
Based on national average emissions rates, the U.S. EPA estimates that the
three bottlers' aggregate purchase of more than 629 million kWh is the
equivalent amount of electricity needed to power nearly 39,000 average
American households annually. Additionally, the combined green power
purchase of these three individual companies is equivalent to avoiding the
carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions of nearly 71,000 passenger cars each
year.
Additionally, with these purchases, all three bottlers appear on EPA's 100
Percent Green Power Purchasers list and also qualify as members of EPA's
Green Power Leadership Club. The "100 Percent Green Power Purchasers"
list features organizations that are buying enough green power to meet 100
percent of their U.S. organization-wide purchased electricity use. This
list includes more than 330 partner organizations demonstrating
environmental leadership - from the largest corporations and government
entities, down to some of the smallest organizations and businesses in the
United States. The Leadership Club honors Green Power Partners that have
made exemplary green power certificate purchases that significantly exceed
the minimum Green Power Partnership purchase requirements. EPA's
Leadership Club purchase requirements are 10 times the minimum
requirements to become a Partner.
About The Pepsi Bottling Group
The Pepsi Bottling Group, Inc. (www.pbg.com) is the world's largest
manufacturer, seller and distributor of Pepsi-Cola beverages with
operations in the U.S., Canada, Mexico, Russia, Spain, Turkey and
Greece.
About PepsiAmericas
PepsiAmericas is the world's second-largest manufacturer, seller and
distributor of PepsiCo beverages with operations in 19 U.S. states,
Central Europe and the Caribbean. For more information on PepsiAmericas,
please visit www.pepsiamericas.com.
About Pepsi Bottling Ventures
Pepsi Bottling Ventures, based in Raleigh, N.C., is PepsiCo's
third-largest anchor bottler in the United States, serving a population of
more than eight million people in central and eastern North Carolina, New
York's Nassau and Suffolk Counties, and parts of Delaware, Maryland and
Virginia.
About EPA's Green Power Partnership
EPA's Green Power Partnership is a voluntary program that encourages
organizations to purchase green power as a way to reduce the environmental
impacts associated with conventional electricity use. The Partnership
currently has hundreds of Partners voluntarily purchasing billions of
kilowatt hours of green power annually. Partners include a wide variety of
leading organizations such as Fortune 500 companies, small and medium sized
businesses, local, state, and federal governments, trade associations, as
well as colleges and universities. For additional information, please
visit http://www.epa.gov/greenpower.
To view a complete listing of EPA's Green Power Partners and information
about buying green power, visit http://www.epa.gov/greenpower.
For more information on EPA's Top Partner lists, visit http://www.epa.gov/greenpower/partners/top25.htm.
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