CHICAGO, Jan. 25, 2012 /PRNewswire/ -- PepsiCo, Inc. (NYSE: PEP) today announced a partnership with the Atrium Mall - James R. Thompson Center that will make the Dream Machine recycling program available to Chicago-area commuters, visitors and residents. With 2,500 Dream Machine-sponsored Free Green Cans already deployed throughout the Chicago Park District, the Thompson Center is among the first to welcome a Dream Machine recycling kiosk to the heart of downtown Chicago.
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To commemorate the launch, Illinois Governor Pat Quinn joined representatives from PepsiCo, Waste Management (NYSE: WM), and the Entrepreneurship Bootcamp for Veterans with Disabilities (EBV), at a ribbon cutting ceremony at the Thompson Center.
"This is a creative way to increase recycling while helping our veterans receive the entrepreneurial training they need to fulfill their dreams," Governor Quinn said. "By giving people in the heart of downtown Chicago the chance to conveniently recycle at work or on the go, PepsiCo is showing how innovation can help everyday people honor service members and help keep their community green."
The Dream Machine recycling initiative, created by PepsiCo in collaboration with Waste Management and Keep America Beautiful, Inc., is introducing thousands of recycling kiosks and bins at popular public locations across North America. The kiosks are computerized receptacles that include a personal reward system, powered by Greenopolis, which allows consumers to earn points for every bottle or can they recycle in the kiosk. Those points can then be redeemed for local discounts on entertainment, dining and travel by visiting www.greenopolis.com. In addition, the more bottles and cans people recycle in Dream Machines, the more support PepsiCo will provide to the EBV, a national program offering free, experiential training in entrepreneurship and small business management to post-9/11 U.S. veterans with disabilities.
"PepsiCo is excited to welcome the James R. Thompson Center to the Dream Machine recycling program," said Tim Carey, director for sustainability and technology, PepsiCo Beverages Americas. "By recycling in a Dream Machine in downtown Chicago, residents and visitors can earn rewards and will help make a real difference for our planet and in the lives of disabled U.S. veterans."
With approximately 4,000 Dream Machines located in 40 states to-date, the program aims to create strategic partnerships to help increase the U.S. beverage container recycling rate to 50 percent by 2018.
"Experience tells us that people are much more likely to recycle if it's convenient, and they are rewarded for doing so," said Paul Wolff, operations manager at Greenopolis. "We look forward to working with the Thompson Center to enable a recycling experience that is convenient and rewarding on many levels."
To learn more about the Dream Machine, visit Facebook.com/DreamMachine. To find a Dream Machine near you, visit DreamMachineLocator.com.
About the Dream Machine
The Dream Machine recycling initiative, introduced on Earth Day 2010, will make thousands of new recycling kiosks and bins available in popular public venues such as gas stations, stadiums, and public parks. Dream Machine kiosks are computerized receptacles that include a personal reward system that allows consumers to collect and redeem points for each bottle or can they recycle in the kiosk. The multi-year collaboration with Waste Management enables the local capture and recycling of PET and Aluminum, using both technology enabled and non-technology enabled recycling kiosks. The Dream Machines are provided by GreenOps, LLC, a subsidiary of Recyclebank®, and operated by Greenopolis, the first interactive recycling system that brings together online and on-street technologies. People who recycle their beverage containers in kiosks can redeem points they collect and receive awards when they visit www.greenopolis.com.
About the Atrium Mall - James R. Thompson Center
The Atrium Mall is conveniently located in Chicago's downtown Loop, inside the architecturally renowned James R. Thompson Center. With more than 40 shops, eateries, and service businesses, there's something for everyone. The beauty and uniqueness of the James R. Thompson Center reflects on every shopping experience. In addition to the Atrium Mall, this astounding building houses more than 50 government agencies, boards and commissions. Designed by world renowned architect Helmut Jahn, the award-winning marble, glass and steel structure surrounds one of the largest enclosed spaces in the world. The building's steel frame is topped by a cylindrical skylight soaring 75 feet above the roof level. The interior is an architectural marvel, with a three hundred foot tall skylight and atrium. The rotunda, which is one hundred sixty feet in diameter, is supported by sixteen floors of balconied, open space.
About PepsiCo
PepsiCo offers the world's largest portfolio of billion-dollar food and beverage brands, including 19 different product lines that generate more than $1 billion in annual retail sales each. Our main businesses -- Quaker, Tropicana, Gatorade, Frito-Lay, and Pepsi Cola -- also make hundreds of other enjoyable foods and beverages that are respected household names throughout the world. With net revenues of approximately $60 billion, PepsiCo's people are united by our unique commitment to sustainable growth by investing in a healthier future for people and our planet, which we believe also means a more successful future for PepsiCo. We call this commitment Performance with Purpose: PepsiCo's promise to provide a wide range of foods and beverages for local tastes; to find innovative ways to minimize our impact on the environment, including by conserving energy and water usage, and reducing packaging volume; to provide a great workplace for our associates; and to respect, support, and invest in the local communities where we operate. For more information, please visit www.pepsico.com.
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About Waste Management
Waste Management, based in Houston, Texas, is the leading provider of comprehensive waste management services in North America. Our subsidiaries provide collection, transfer, recycling and resource recovery, and disposal services. We are also a leading developer, operator and owner of waste-to-energy and landfill gas-to-energy facilities in the United States. Our customers include residential, commercial, industrial, and municipal customers throughout North America.
About Greenopolis
Greenopolis is the first interactive community that connects the online conversation about recycling and resource management with opportunities to track the products that consumers use and recycle through recycling kiosks located in public venues and other on-the-go locations. Through Greenopolis, environmentally responsible individuals can earn rewards for recycling and resource-conscious companies can better understand the lifecycle of their products; "Rethink. Recycle. Reward. Closing the Loop Together." Greenopolis LLC is a division of Recyclebank®, the company that helps create a more sustainable future by rewarding people for taking every day green actions with discounts and deals from more than 3,000 local and national businesses. For more information, visit www.greenopolis.com.
About Keep America Beautiful, Inc.
Keep America Beautiful, Inc., established in 1953, is the nation's largest volunteer-based community action and education organization. With a network of nearly 1,200 affiliate and participating organizations, Keep America Beautiful forms public-private partnerships and programs that prevent litter, reduce waste, increase recycling, and create greener public spaces. To learn more, visit www.kab.org.
About The Entrepreneurship Bootcamp for Veterans with Disabilities
The Entrepreneurship Bootcamp for Veterans with Disabilities (EBV) is a program created at the Whitman School of Management at Syracuse University and operated under the auspices of SU's Institute for Veterans and Military Families, designed to provide training in entrepreneurship and small business management to post-9/11 veterans with disabilities resulting from military service. The mission of the EBV is to open the door to business ownership for veterans, by developing skills that relate to the many steps associated with launching and growing a small business. Today, the EBV is offered through a national consortium of world-class schools across the country, which includes Syracuse University, Texas A&M University, The Florida State University, UCLA, Purdue University, the University of Connecticut, Cornell University and Louisiana State University. The training is provided at no cost to qualified veterans.
SOURCE PepsiCo