Dr Pepper Snapple Exceeds Manufacturing Waste Recycling Goal

June 14, 2012

Dr Pepper Snapple Group (DPS) is recycling 81 percent of its manufacturing waste, exceeding its original goal and placing the company close to its 90 percent waste diversion goal, according to the company’s 2nd annual sustainability report.

Importantly, the recycling efforts at just nine DPS sites in 2011 generated $1.3 million in revenue.

"When we began as an independent, publicly traded company four years ago, we committed to growing our business in a way that delivers shareholder value while also ensuring environmental and social responsibility," said Larry D. Young, president and CEO. "As our business has grown, so have our CSR programs and initiatives. We are proud of the meaningful progress we have made over the past few years and remain dedicated to delivering on our goals."

DPS's inaugural sustainability report in 2010 established 2015 goals and outlined its approach to CSR. The new report highlights significant progress toward many of the defined benchmarks, including:

Replacing 33,000 out of 60,000 older vending machines and cooling units to be converted by 2015. Each new unit is up to 30 percent more efficient than the older one it replaced; and
Saving $25 million in costs and 31 million pounds of PET (plastic) through the reduction of packaging weight since 2007.

And in its quest to address the nation’s obesity concerns, DPS is encouraging active lifestyles and fitness with the launch of Let's Play, a community partnership to get kids and families active nationwide through a three-year, $15 million grant to KaBOOM!. In its first year, DPS and KaBOOM! built or fixed up 528 playgrounds to give 1.3 million children access to play spaces.

In 2011 DPS also filled 42 percent of its innovation pipeline with projects focused on reduced calories, smaller portion sizes and improved nutrition, putting the company only 8 percentage points away from reaching its 2015 goal to have half of its innovation projects focused on health and wellness, the company reported.

GRD Views: Congratulations to DPS on its achievements. The company's progress is a great example of the aggregate positive sustainability impact that retailers and their suppliers can have on the entire supply chain.-- John Failla for Green Retail Decisions

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