PepsiCo Dream Machine Recycling Initiative Announces Second $500,000 Donation to Entrepreneurship Bootcamp for Veterans with Disabilities (EBV)

Since the launch of the Dream Machine program in April 2010, PepsiCo has donated $1 million to the EBV to support career training and job creation for post-9/11 U.S. veterans with disabilities

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Nov 11, 2011, 07:45 ET

PURCHASE, N.Y., Nov. 11, 2011 /PRNewswire/ -- Through its Dream Machine recycling initiative, PepsiCo, Inc. (NYSE: PEP) announced today its second $500,000 donation to the Entrepreneurship Bootcamp for Veterans with Disabilities (EBV), a national program offering career training, education and job creation for post-9/11 U.S. veterans with disabilities. PepsiCo will present a check during a ceremony following the first quarter of the Veterans Day football game at Syracuse University, home to the Whitman School of Management and Institute for Veterans and Military Families (IVMF), which operates the EBV program.

Through the Dream Machine initiative, PepsiCo is committed to contributing $500,000 per year to the EBV. The Dream Machine recycling initiative, created by PepsiCo in collaboration with Waste Management (NYSE: WM) and Keep America Beautiful, 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.

The more plastic bottles and aluminum cans Americans recycle in Dream Machine kiosks and bins across the nation, the more support PepsiCo will provide to the EBV. For every 10 million pounds of recycled material collected, the company will contribute an additional $250,000.

"At PepsiCo, we are committed to delivering sustainable growth by investing in a healthier future for people and our planet. We are honored to support the EBV through the Dream Machine recycling program," said Jeremy Cage, senior vice president and head of the Dream Machine Recycling Initiative, PepsiCo. "Our strategic partnerships on this initiative help make recycling more convenient and rewarding, and the effort goes to support our veterans with disabilities who are reentering civilian life."

"PepsiCo's support of the EBV has been vital to the program's growth," said Mike Haynie, EBV founder, IVMF executive director and Barnes Professor of Entrepreneurship at SU's Whitman School. "We are thankful for the public and private support EBV has received. This week, we were thrilled to announce the addition of Cornell University to our consortium of universities. It's my hope that more organizations will step forward to adopt the Dream Machine recycling program so that together, we can continue to make a difference for our veterans."

In addition to supporting U.S. veterans with disabilities through the Dream Machine program, PepsiCo contributes to national veteran-related causes including American Corporate Partners and the Bob Woodruff Foundation. PepsiCo also offers Valor, an employee resource group that aims to recognize, appreciate and support military veterans, their families and the communities in which they live and work.

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 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 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 and wholesome 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 LLC is the company that helps create a more sustainable future by rewarding people for taking every day green actions with discounts and deals. Greenopolis.com 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." For more information: 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.