s potato crisps to get potato packet

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ato-peel

PepsiCo hopes to start making s packets from unused potato starch within

18 months as it ditches Sun Chips compostable bag

Shankleman, BusinessGreen, 09 Oct 2010

s is investigating how to transform old potato peelings into crisp packets

as part of its latest drive to deliver more environmentally sustainable

packaging.

The PepsiCo-owned firm has been looking at a number of ways to make more

environmentally friendly packets for crisps as part of the the Carbon Trust's

Carbon Reduction Label initiative, and claims to have already cut the carbon

footprint of one of its standard bag of crisps by seven per cent.

Now the company is looking at extracting starch from potato skins and turning it

into packaging.

" Imagine making a crisp packet out of potato peelings, " , president

of PepsiCo UK and Ireland, told BBC Radio 4 yesterday. " In reality, if you think

about starch – and you know how sticky starch is – if you could mass it together

you could create a layer of starch and stabilise that. We could use the peelings

we have, that today go to animal feed and other recycling uses, to be turned

into a crisp packets. "

He said packets made out of peelings could be used for some of s smaller

brands within 18 months.

According to the Carbon Trust, a cheese and onion s crisp bag has a carbon

footprint of 80g, 34 per cent of which is related to packaging.

The development is likely to win plaudits from green consumers after one of

Pepsico's US subsidiaries, Frito-Lay, this week performed an embarrassing

u-turn, binning the world's first 100 per cent biodegradable bag, following an

outcry from consumers who complained the new bags were too noisy.

The completely compostable SunChips bag from Frito-Lay had become the subject of

a Facebook page entitled " SORRY BUT I CAN'T HEAR YOU OVER THIS SUNCHIPS BAG " ,

which had garnered 45,000 followers.

Air Force pilot and video blogger J Scot Heathman recorded the rustling of the

bags at around 95 decibels, as noisy as an underground train and just loud

enough to cause hearing damage.

" While there was a huge amount of enthusiasm surrounding the launch of our

compostable SunChips bag, we've also received feedback regarding how the new

packaging has affected the consumer experience, including its noise, " said

SunChips in a statement.

However, the company said that it was still looking to reduce its environmental

impact and hinted that it could soon introduce an alternative biodegradable

crisp packet. " We have several new compostable package options in the works that

look promising and look forward to introducing the next-generation compostable

bag to consumers in the near future, " it said