Gatorade Atlanta: Doing the Right Thing

Last year, the Atlanta hotfill plant identified 15 additional materials that could be recycled to further reduce the amount of waste being landfilled. Materials such as label and stretch wrap cores, and electronics are now recycled. Additionally, the plant added another baler so that composite ingredient bags could be baled and recycled. These efforts reduced the amount of landfilled waste by 62.6% in 2012 and helped the plant beat the 2012 goal of 25% reduction in landfilled waste. Currently, only 4.8% of all waste generated by this manufacturing plant is landfilled, which positions this plant well to achieve the 2013 goal of less than 10% waste landfilled. In 2012, 761 fewer tons (1.5 million pounds) of waste was landfilled when compared to 2011.

The ongoing success of this program is due in large part to the employees who continue to actively find ways to decrease waste. Teresa Johnson set up additional recycling containers, put collection systems in place for recyclable materials, posted laminated instructional posters around the plant, and coordinated the installation and proper use of the new ingredient bag baler. Atlanta Gatorade also has initiated a program to reuse previously discarded pallets from the distribution center. The plant also helps other PepsiCo facilities improve their Zero Landfill performance by recycling finished product for plants and warehouses in the surrounding area, including Stone Mountain and Chattahoochee. Other innovative methods to reduce landfill include donating sugar that cannot be used in products to the University of Georgia Honey Bee program. In 2012, the plant donated almost 21 tons of sugar to honey bee research.

Atlanta's Zero Landfill program isn't happening in a bubble— to keep everyone focused, informed and inspired, the site sends out mass e-mails, uses bulletin boards, and holds regular meetings on Zero Landfill performance.

Energized by these impressive achievements, the site plans to develop additional opportunities for Zero Landfill and they hope to beat the Kissimmee Gatorade plant to zero in 2013. In 2012, Kissimmee led the hotfill plants with only 1.3% of their waste landfilled. Stay tuned to see who makes it to <1% in 2013!