Pepsi Beverages Co. Will Begin Manufacturing Plastic Bottles

Pepsi Beverages Co. will begin manufacturing plastic bottles at its Latham bottling plant. Pepsi will invest $10 million in a project to replace merchant-supplied plastic bottles with ones blow molded on-site, according to a news release from The Capital Region Economic Development Council, a state agency in the Albany, N.Y., region. The project aims to improve both sustainability and productivity – the plant will run energy efficient blow molding machines designed to cut energy use by more than 2.4 million kilowatt hours annually. Switching to on-site production also will save energy on transportation, and reduce the need for bottle handling and preparation, according to the release. The plant will hire five additional employees. It currently has 325 employees, 167 of whom work in manufacturing. Purchase, N.Y., -based Pepsi received $286,000 from the New York State Energy Research and Development Authority, a public-benefit corporation that awards funding for energy-saving projects. Source: Plastics News