Soft drink giant PepsiCo announces the decision to eliminate all bottles made out of virgin plastic in nine European Union countries until 2022.

PepsiCo stated that all bottles under the name of Pepsi will be made out of recycled plastic (recycled polyethylene terephthalate or rPET). The company estimates this change to reduce the usage of virgin, fossil-fuel based plastic bottles by 70,000 tonnes and to lower the carbon emissions 40% per bottle. PepsiCo also added that they will continue working with systems such as SodaStream that are suitable for refilling.

“We are committed to immediate action to address the plastic waste challenge. Starting with these nine markets, we are working to incorporate 100 percent recycled plastic into our beverage bottles so we can minimize our use of virgin, fossil-fuel based packaging. We will also look to go further and faster in other European markets where the conditions allow” said Silviu Popovici, CEO of PepsiCo Europe.

While Germany, Poland, Romania, Greece and Spain will see change in 2021; project rPET will be at %100 in France, Great Britain, Belgium and Luxembourg in 2022.