They say virtue is its own reward, but some extra cash never hurt, either.
For a limited time, recycling Pepsi bottles and cans at select return-and-earn machines in New South Wales, Australia, will give users the chance to win thousands of dollars on top of the usual recycling refund, according to Little Black Book.
Thanks to a collaboration between Pepsi and Special Australia, a brand consultancy, New South Wales residents using certain reverse vending machines can win additional prizes of AU$100 ($66.15), AU$1,000 ($661.46), AU$5,000 ($3,307.28), or even AU$50,000 ($33,072.75) just for recycling Pepsi products, per Little Black Book.
"The Recycling Rethink started with a simple enough question," explained Alastair Flack and Mark Stamach of Special Australia, per LBB. "If you could earn more for recycling a Pepsi, wouldn't you recycle Pepsi more?"
The program works by putting the reverse vending machines' internal bar code scanners to a new purpose.
"Typically, the data recognized by this barcode scanner is only used to validate an eligible container," said Flack and Stamach, per LBB. "But now, whenever an eligible Pepsi barcode is detected, it will also automatically trigger the printing of a special voucher at the end of the recycler's session, in addition to the normal 10c ($0.07) refund voucher. When the unique QR code on it is scanned, it'll instantly say if they've earned anything extra."
There is no word yet about the program expanding into the U.S. or other countries, but if it's successful and there is a public demand, the company could decide to try it in other places.
The program is the latest attempt by a large beverage company to encourage recycling of its used containers. In Scotland, Coca-Cola rolled out a pilot program at select college campuses that sought to increase recycling rates by offering students a $0.27 credit for recycling Coke containers. The credits were then redeemable at campus canteens.
The enhanced recycling programs have highlighted the role that beverage giants like Coca-Cola and Pepsi have played in the world's ongoing plastic crisis. While Coke has been labeled the world's largest source of branded plastic waste, Pepsi also has contributed heavily to the plastic crisis.
Every year, Coca-Cola produces more than 3.5 million tons of plastic, while Pepsi generates 2.75 million tons, according to Break Free from Plastic, as cited by Fortune in 2024. Not only do large percentages of this plastic end up as plastic waste, polluting rivers, lakes, and oceans, but creating new plastic also releases large amounts of planet-heating pollution, accounting for 3.3% of all such pollution globally, according to Our World in Data.
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Giving me money back 💰 Given the massive scale of the plastic problem, some have accused Pepsi and Coca-Cola's high-visibility recycling programs of amounting to little more than greenwashing or as cynical efforts to push back on critics of the companies' plastic practices.
"Coke and Pepsi need to stop the deception and take responsibility for the plastic pollution problems your products are causing," said Lindsey Horvath, a Los Angeles County supervisor, in 2024, as the county filed a lawsuit against the beverage giants over their plastic pollution, per Fortune. "Los Angeles County will continue to address the serious environmental impacts caused by companies engaging in misleading and unfair business practices."
Unlike organic materials, plastic does not biodegrade. Instead, it breaks down into smaller and smaller plastic particles known as microplastics and their even tinier cousins, nanoplastics.
Microplastics have been detected all over the world, including in the water we drink, the food we eat, and the air we breathe. As a result, microplastics have been found in human bodies, including vital organs.
According to the U.N., the world recycles only about 9% of all plastic waste. Meanwhile, an estimated 12.1 million tons of plastic waste ends up in oceans every year, with 220 million tons of plastic already contaminating marine environments, per Ocean Conservancy.
While recycling can help reduce plastic waste, these figures make clear that the world cannot recycle its way out of its plastic problem. To truly reverse the trend on plastic waste, and to curtail the heat-trapping pollution that plastic production generates, the world must produce far less plastic in the first place.
While doing so will require a massive effort on an international scale, our individual choices matter. By using less plastic overall, choosing plastic-free alternatives to everyday products, and supporting brands with plastic-free packaging, you can help produce less plastic waste while also sending a message to companies that consumers prefer plastic-free alternatives.
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