PepsiCo is to transport its Walkers crisps brand by trucks powered by used cooking oil, in a move it says will save thousands of tonnes of greenhouse gas emissions.
The food and drinks giant is expanding its use of hydrotreated vegetable oil (HVO) – used cooking oil – in the UK across its supply chain.
The move comes as the Pepsi and Doritos owner looks to reach net zero emissions by 2040.
Other moves recently undertaken by Walkers geared at helping the planet include rolling out paper multibag packs for its Snack A Jacks range and rolling out new packaging made from 50% recycled plastic across its Sunbites range.
In its latest green move, PepsiCo has partnered up with road haulage firm Stobart.
The partnership will see Walkers transported from PepsiCo’s Leicester site to retailers using five million litres of HVO to fuel over 11 million miles of UK HGV truck journeys across the remainder of this year.
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PepsiCo says every kilometre powered by HVO generates 85% less GHG emissions compared with conventional diesel.
The move marks its latest move to expand the use of sustainable HVO fuel across the business.
HVO has already replaced diesel on trucks travelling between the Quaker Oats mill in Cupar and Walkers’ home in Leicester, alongside routes between British farms and Leicester.
PepsiCo says that low carbon HVO is now being used to power 40% of transportation used to make and deliver Walkers crisps, with PepsiCo’s total miles running on HVO fuel equating to 14 million this year, saving over 16,000 tonnes in GHG emissions.
Simon Devaney, sustainability director, PepsiCo UK & Ireland, said: “Scaling up our use of HVO-powered trucks to transport our Walkers crisps all over the country is a significant further step in our decarbonisation journey. By continuing to invest in green logistics initiatives with trusted partners we’re moving even closer to our goal of net zero by 2040.”
