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Partner Profile
| Frito-Lay, Inc. | |
|---|---|
| Location | Plano, TX |
| Goal | Frito-Lay, Inc. pledges to reduce U.S. GHG emissions by 14 percent per pound of production from 2002 to 2010. |
| Company Description Frito-Lay Inc., a division of PepsiCo, has been in the convenient fun foods business since 1932. Frito-Lay makes and sells snack brands including Lay's® potato chips, Ruffles® potato chips, Doritos® tortilla chips, Tostitos® tortilla chips, and Cheetos® cheese-flavored snacks. Frito-Lay joined Climate Leaders in 2004 and is headquartered in Plano, TX. | |
| Reasons for Joining Climate Leaders Frito-Lay launched an aggressive energy efficiency effort in the late 1990s, helping the company to achieve a 14 percent reduction in greenhouse gas emissions between 1999 and 2004. When its parent company, PepsiCo, committed to publicly reporting its environmental activities, Frito-Lay saw an opportunity to set an example for the rest of the company by reporting its GHG emissions and setting a reduction goal. “Frito-Lay’s participation in Climate Leaders is a significant plank in PepsiCo’s environmental initiative,” says Larry Perry, Frito-Lay’s Group Manager for Environmental Compliance and Engineering. Realizing that GHG reductions represent a corporate asset that the company wanted to protect, Frito-Lay chose a highly transparent, rigorous, and credible reporting process. The company also recognized that being identified by EPA as a “Climate Leader” is another corporate asset the company can bank on in its relationships with its employees and shareholders. Frito-Lay also believes it is important to register its GHG emission reductions to allow the company to take credit for its accomplishments in the event that tougher regulations are enacted in the future. “We wanted to register our emission reduction actions in the best place possible, which is why we chose the EPA’s Climate Leaders program,” says Larry Perry. | |
| GHG Reductions Before Joining Climate Leaders Frito-Lay reduced GHG emissions by 9.4 percent per pound of product between 1999 and 2002. The company achieved its initial reductions in the late 1990s when it initiated its “Resource Conservation Program,” leveraging the corporate environmental group and facility-level “Green Teams.” In 1999, Frito-Lay joined EPA’s Climate Wise program, which was its first public commitment to improving energy efficiency and reducing GHG emissions. In 2001, the company formed and staffed its own Energy Department, which develops goals for each facility and works with the plant operations teams to meet them. This enabled the company not only to set goals, but to have the staff available to drive the organization toward achieving them. Frito-Lay’s in-house Energy Department conducts audits, identifies projects, and tracks performance. The department also assists with project design and implementation. | |
| Approach to GHG Management Frito-Lay has set a goal of reducing its GHG emissions by 14 percent per pound of product from 2002 to 2010. The goal was based on projections of future improvements in energy efficiency, plus a stretch factor. Frito-Lay’s willingness to stretch beyond the comfort zone has been a key to its past successes and will also be instrumental in progress towards its ambitious new goals for reducing energy use and GHG emissions. Air compressor management has also been a winning strategy for Frito Lay. This has included the use of variable speed compressors and a large effort to identify and fix leaks. A computer system now automatically starts up and shuts down packaging lines, resulting in significant energy savings. Heat recovery projects will continue to play a significant role as the company moves towards achieving its Climate Leaders goal. Frito-Lay will be looking at recovering heat from boiler stack gases, ovens, and fryers. Oven draft control is another significant energy-saving opportunity. On the horizon, Frito-Lay will be taking a closer look at anaerobic wastewater treatment with methane recovery for use in other processes. The company is also looking at potential application of absorption chillers, and continues to look for opportunities to apply cogeneration. | |
| Progress Towards Goal Completion From 2002 to 2005, Frito-Lay has reduced its emissions by 7.2 percent per pound of product. | |