YAYYYY!!! Pepsico to switch to plant-based plastic bottles... but wait-

[stlsaxman]

So- what am i missing here... this ain't about the environment AT ALL.

"The bottle is made from switch grass, pine bark, corn husks and other materials. Ultimately, Pepsi plans to also use orange peels, oat hulls, potato scraps and other leftovers from its food business."

"This is the beginning of the end of petroleum-based plastics," said Allen Hershkowitz, a senior scientist with the Natural Resources Defense Council and director of its waste management project. "When you have a company of this size making a commitment to a plant-based plastic, the market is going to respond."

"PET plastic is a go-to material for packaging because it's lightweight and shatter-resistant, its safety is well-researched and it doesn't affect flavors. It is not biodegradable or compostable but it is recyclable.

http://www.boston.com/business/technology/articles/2011/03/15/pepsico_unveils_100_percent_plant_based_bottle/

I'll bet you dollars to do-nuts they market this as "green"... but the main green that will be seen is the money saved for the shareholders from not needing to buy from the petro-lobby.

Until they put a $.05 or .10 deposit on every bottle sold- 99% of this plastic will end up in The Pacific Garbage Patch.

[Atman]

1. I think you're misreading something.

PET plastic is what we have now. That's what is not biodegradable. Personally, I think it is a great thing that Pepsico has found a way to recycle waste from it's other food divisions into packaging biodegradable packaging materials. What is bad about this? Even if it is a self-serving cost saving measure for Pepsico, why should I be upset? Seems like a move in the right direction for any company.

[stlsaxman]

3. "type of plastic called PET made entirely of plant materials..." PET is the new stuff, right?

"PepsiCo says it is the world's first bottle of a common type of plastic called PET made entirely of plant materials. Coca-Cola Co. currently produces a bottle using 30 percent plant-based materials and recently estimated it would be several years before it has a 100 percent plant bottle that's commercially viable."

[Atman]

12. Okay, I gotta get more info on PET.

I thought all out plastic bottles were certain types of PET. There is a PET number on virtually every plastic bottle which tells you if/how it is recyclable. So biodegradable PET? Maybe it's just a new category of plastic, and will have a new PET designation.

[Jmaxfie1]

5. I agree, if this turns out to actually be cheaper for them than plastic,

it is even better. It would be nice to say that companies do things for the environment, but its a safer bet if they are actually cheaper. I'm a diehard Coke lover, but I might have to drink a Pepsi or 2 if this who thing works out.

[gateley]

13. Agree - it's even better if it's a cost saver for them. That's the biggest motivation

corporations have, and hopefully others will take note.

[Jmaxfie1]

20. Call me cynical but your right if a company says we are going green...

because it will save us money I believe them. If a company says they are going green because it is the right thing to do, I scrutinize the evidence much harder.

[underpants]

15. They know that their packaging product price is unstable and likely running out

[truedelphi]

2. You know, if it was biodegradable, or compostable, you

Wouldn't want to eat or drink from it, would you? You'd have fermenting, biodegrading bottle fragments in whatever you ate or drank as that would be what would be floating around in that package.

This seems like a reasonable step up.

The best way to avoid littering the planet is to get your fruits and veggies and juices fromt eh fruits and veggies.

But few of us are that extreme. (Juli Butterfly, who sat up in the old redwood tree for months to safe it from loggers doesn't consume anything but unpackaged edibles. Most people can't deal with the difficulties that lifestyle causes.)

[stlsaxman]

6. I guess i wish they'd go back to glass... and charge a deposit.

:shrug:

[Jmaxfie1]

8. For some reason Coke out of a bottle just tastes so much better than cans or plastic. n/t

[truedelphi]

14. Oh me too. But I guess using plastic or other stuff

Gives them a bigger profit margin.

[dbackjon]

19. Which uses a lot more gas to transport due to the added weight.

[YellowRubberDuckie]

4. Plastic not made from oil is GREAT.

That means more oil for energy, because GOD KNOWS they aren't going to develop renewable energies. You can't charge people out of the ass for it because it's cheap to maintain and RENEWABLE for Christ's sake!

[Jmaxfie1]

7. Even if it was just as bad for the environment as oil based plastic...

I'd still support it just because it uses less oil. That its better for the environment is an awesome bonus though. :)

[YellowRubberDuckie]

9. If it is made from recyclable trash, how is that worse for the environment?

[stlsaxman]

10. because it takes compostable products and make makes them into plastic that will be around

forever in a landfill.

[YellowRubberDuckie]

11. So will most everything.

:shrug:

[Jmaxfie1]

21. I'm not saying it is, just that getting away from oil based products would be a great step...

that they are actually better for the environment makes me even more excited! :)

[bluestate10]

16. Nothing but perfection for you, eh?

Green on a massive scale has to start somewhere. When companies see the benefits to their bottom line of being green, more will hop on the bandwagon, driving more research into better purer green alternatives. Oh vaaay, the short sightedness.

[stlsaxman]

22. That's correct- The goal of perfection is how it is attained.

Better that I act accordingly than rely on "the benevolent invisible hand of the marketplace".

[Jmaxfie1]

24. I have to agree with Adam Smith on this one.

Companies are do things because they make money. The only way we are going to get a real green movement going is to make it profitable for businesses to do it. We can either tax them, which I'm also for, but its even better if it turns out to be just cheaper on its own for them to do this.

[doc03]

17. Can't get a deposit, the can, plastic and glass industry

lobbyists will put a stop to that.

[Snoutport]

18. Oregon even has a deposit on water bottles now! None of those in our landfills!

The bottle law here is great. Some people don't bother, but we have recycling bins that people usually go through (we have a couple of very elderly neighbors who take them). I take mine to school and the Special Ed students sort and recycle them. They use the money for field trips. At work there is a can that the Girl Scouts pick up and that helps fund their troops.

It is, truly, a no-lose situation! Much less plastic and cans in the landfills, it teaches recycling, people who can't be bothered get rid of them and that benefits the poor or civic groups. :0) Much better than just throwing it away.

[Jmaxfie1]

23. That's great!

When I was a kid my family would go on what we called can runs. We would pick up cans on the side of the road and then take them to a place that would buy them as scrap aluminum. We didn't have curbside recycling were I lived. (Funny, I'm only 30 so this was only maybe 20 years ago, though it was in North Carolina ;)) Anyway, we kids got to divide up all the money we got and go to Toys r' Us. It wasn't like a huge amount of money, but I'd usually get like 2 GI Joes out of it. It was cool because we got toys and we also helped the environment, but back then I will admit, it was mostly about toys.

[stlsaxman]

25. That's awesome! Yayy Oregon!!! Everybody wins...

i remember "hunting" for bottles as a kid for the deposit of $.10.... it added up quick. back when i was an active drunk i used to save all the cans from the 2 case/day habit and just before payday when money was tight i sold them to the recycling center and had booze for a couple days.

after 23 years sober I still leave aluminum cans in a paper sack near the dumpster for the less fortunate so they needn't "dive" for them. i drop 'em out there and they're GONE...

:hi: