PepsiCo has increased the use of hydrotreated vegetable oil (HVO) – used cooking oil - across its supply chain in a move set to save 2,650 tonnes in greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions annually.

The transport of 240,000 tonnes potatoes each year from PepsiCo’s British farmers to its Leicester site is now entirely powered by used cooking oil, in partnership with AB Texel UK.

The move follows PepsiCo’s introduction of the alternative fuel in 2022, for more than one and a half million kilometres of truck journeys moving product between the Quaker Oats mill in Cupar and its Leicester distribution centre.

Every kilometre powered by HVO generates 80% less GHG emissions when compared with conventional diesel, reducing the impact of these journeys on the planet, it said.

PepsiCo is continuing to increase the use of sustainable HVO fuel across the business, with plans to expand its use to the company’s transport operations in Scotland later this year.

This future expansion is expected to reduce GHG emissions by another 5,000 tonnes annually. By the end of 2023, PepsiCo expects to be using HVO to power around 9 million kilometres of journeys across the UK.

The initiative forms part of PepsiCo Positive, the company’s transformation programme which includes a goal of reaching net zero emissions by 2040.

Simon Devaney, sustainability director at PepsiCo UK and Ireland, said: “We’re always looking for innovative ways to tackle our carbon footprint and the move to HVO for all our potato deliveries to Leicester, the home of Walkers, is a significant step.

“HVO fuel plays an important role in helping us to accelerate the decarbonisation of our transport activities.”

Lewis Chisholm, director of AB Texel UK, added: “Our ambition is to limit our effect on global warming by reducing our own CO2 emissions to 0% by 2050.

“The use of renewable fuels, in which we are taking an important step together with PepsiCo, contributes to the realisation of this ambitious goal.”

Walkers deploys new electric trucks

This news builds on several lower-emissions logistics initiatives recently announced by PepsiCo including the acquisition of two electric trucks, powered by freight mobility technology company Einride, which were deployed this week to transport product between PepsiCo’s factories in Leicester and Coventry.

The company has also introduced new electric yard vehicles which will transport 40,000 pallets around the Leicester site.

Switching these journeys to electric will help PepsiCo cut the distance travelled using fossil-powered trucks by over 400,000 kilometres annually and reduce the equivalent of more than 1,600 tonnes of GHG emissions over the next three years.