Community Updates

PepsiCo Recycling Offers Sustainability Funding to Colleges and Universities

PepsiCo Recycling is continuing to expand the Zero Impact Fund, which offers eligible* colleges and universities an opportunity to bring campus sustainability ideas to life. Through the Zero Impact Fund, schools can submit ideas to accomplish their environmental, economic and social goals, with winning applications receiving up to $10,000 each from PepsiCo Recycling. In its first two years, the Zero Impact Fund received applications from more than 100 different campuses and awarded grants to 27 schools.

Published 6 years ago | About a 3 minute read

“We’re excited to expand the Zero Impact Fund again this year by increasing the amount of funding available and potentially the amount of campuses that may benefit from it. As part of PepsiCo’s Performance with Purpose agenda, Zero Impact Fund encourages our college and university partners to promote and foster innovative sustainability initiatives that help make their campuses better stewards in their communities,” said Tom Mooradian, manager of environmental sustainability at PepsiCo. “We thoroughly enjoyed reviewing all of the proposals last year because they were so creative and impactful and we can’t wait to see even more innovative ideas from our campus partners this year.”

For the 2018-2019 school year, colleges and universities interested in submitting project proposals for the PepsiCo Recycling Zero Impact Fund should complete an application at PepsiCoRecycling.com on or before December 21, 2018. Schools selected to receive funding will be notified in February 2019. A PepsiCo Recycling committee will evaluate each school’s proposal based on the following criteria:

Environmental Impact – How the proposed project creates a more sustainable campus
Social Impact – How the campus community is engaged and positive behavioral change is fostered
Ingenuity – How positive sustainability impact will be achieved in a new or innovative way
Desirability, Feasibility, Longevity – The demonstrated support of campus leadership and the extent to which the initiative is scalable
Cost Effectiveness– How effective the proposed project is at implementing sustainability initiatives on campus in relation to cost

Past winning project proposals include campus-wide single stream recycling programs, solar and human powered phone-charging stations, pollinator friendly gardens, food waste diversion plans, solar-thermal systems and compost container cleaning stations. Millersville University in Pennsylvania developed a kit to promote sustainability at various campus events.

“The PepsiCo Zero Impact Fund really helped to catalyze student-centered sustainability activities here at Millersville University. The event kit we developed helps us host events that are full of ‘positive energy’ at our new zero-energy Lombardo Welcome Center,” said Chris Steuer, sustainability manager at Millersville University.

Since 2010, PepsiCo Recycling has partnered with more than 100 colleges’ and universities’ on-campus recycling programs, and has awarded more than $100,000 to support campus recycling efforts and increase student engagement. PepsiCo Recycling also offers resources for colleges and universities to engage the campus community around sustainability, such as bottle and can collection tips for campus tailgates. For more information on the PepsiCo Recycling Zero Impact Fund, proposal inspiration, rules and questions about eligibility, please visit PepsiCoRecycling.com.

*Direct or indirect beverage contract or agreement with PepsiCo is required to be eligible.