PepsiCo Global Concentrate Solutions, Grand Prairie

PepsiCo Global Concentrate Solutions (PGCS), including the Grand Prairie Distribution Center and the Arlington Manufacturing Plant, has been using a phased approach to eliminate hazardous waste.

The first phase of the project, begun in 2023, implemented a beneficial process to distill ethanol from flammable liquid flavors, eliminating the flammable hazardous waste stream, which was over half of the annual hazardous waste generated.

The second phase of the project, begun in mid-2024, focused on improved management of production and inventory levels. This phase reduced the generated hazardous waste stream from one trailer per month to a partial trailer every three months at each distribution center.

The final phase of the hazardous waste elimination project allows the PGCS network to utilize an anaerobic digestion process to extract sugars from the unusable and corrosive materials that can no longer be used by bottling facilities. The anaerobic digestion process will extract the flavor sugars from the corrosive materials and result in a sludge that can be used to fertilize crops, enhancing crop quality and yield as a result.

The goal of this approach is to allow PGCS to change their EPA generator status from large quantity generator to very small quantity generator.