Frito-Lay has also built over 50 acres of solar concentrators behind its Modesto, California, plant to generate solar power. The solar power is being converted into heat and used to cook Sun Chips. A biomass boiler, which will burn agricultural waste, is also planned to provide additional renewable fuel. Frito-Lay is installing high-tech filters that recycle most of the water used to rinse and wash potatoes. It also recycles corn byprod-ucts to make Doritos and other snacks; starch is reclaimed and sold, primarily as animal feed, and leftover sludge is burned to create methane gas to run the plant boiler. There are benefits besides the potential energy savings. Like many other large corporations, Frito-Lay is striving to establish its green cre-dentials as consumers become more focused on environmental issues. There are marketing opportunities, too. The company, for example, advertises that its popular Sun Chips snacks are made using solar energy. At Frito-Lay’s Florida plant, only 3M% of the waste goes to landfills, but that is still 1.5 million pounds annually. The goal is zero waste to landfills. The snack food maker earned its spot in the National Environmental Performance Track program by maintain-ing a sustained environmental compliance record and making new commitments to reduce, reuse, and recycle at this facility.
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Substantial resource reductions have been made in the production, process, with an energy reduction of 21% across Frito-Lay’s 34 U.S. plants. But the continuing battle for resource reduction continues. The company is also moving toward biodegradable packaging and pursu-ing initiatives in areas such as office paper, packaging material, sea-soning bags, and cans and bottles. While these multiyear initiatives are expensive, they have the backing at the highest levels of Frito-Lay as well as corporate executives at PepsiCo, the parent company.
Discussion Questions*
1. Using resources, regulation, and reputation as a basis, what are the sources of pressure on firms such as Frito-Lay to reduce their environmental footprint?
2. Identify the specific techniques that Frito-Lay is using to become a “green manufacturer.”
3. Select another company and compare its green policies to those of Frito-Lay.
