Daily Times

PepsiCo Pakistan is collaborating with National University of Science and Technology (NUST) to launch a competition for students to address the need to drive a circular economy for plastics through innovative thinking and research.

Titled “Generation Green”, the competition was launched on ‘International Students’ Day and will run for two weeks for the students of NUST and inspire them to come up with dynamic innovations that can practically support a circular economy for plastics in Pakistan.

Earlier this year, Dr Rizwan Riaz, Pro-Rector (RIC) NUST and Mohammad Khosa, Senior Director Commercial and Corporate Affairs PepsiCo Pakistan had signed a Memorandum of Agreement (MoA) at NUST to collaborate on enabling a circular economy for plastics. This contest is a part of the collaboration and falls under PepsiCo’s pep+ (PepsiCo Positive) agenda, which is centered on sustainability and finding bold, research-based solutions to the environmental challenges we face today.

“Generation Green” will be open for students and the winning team and project will receive a seed fund from PepsiCo Pakistan to help kickstart, advance and scale the students’ innovative solution. PepsiCo Pakistan will also provide several mentorship and training opportunities to the participating teams.

Speaking about the contest, Mohammad Khosa, Senior Director Commercial and Corporate Affairs PepsiCo Pakistan said, “The student-led contest with NUST will add another layer of collaborators in PepsiCo’s global ambition to ensure plastic never becomes waste. Young people like the brilliant students at NUST hold the key to our future successes and represent the best minds of their generation. At PepsiCo Pakistan, we believe in amplifying their genius to make it a better world for all.”

Khurram Shah, Director Public Policy and Government Affairs at PepsiCo Pakistan added, “The collaboration between PepsiCo and NUST is the perfect alignment of industry and academics. It will nurture the next generation of changemakers to promote positive environmental impacts with innovative concepts.”

Dr. Rizwan Riaz, Pro-Rector (RIC) at NUST said, “The launch of Generation Green marks an important milestone in our partnership with PepsiCo to develop innovative and technology-based solutions in the areas of waste reduction and sustainability. It is a great example of industry and academia joining hands to solve some of the most pressing issues of our time and utilizing our brilliant young minds. We are happy to see such initiatives taking place and look forward to many more to come, paving the way for research and development to flourish in the country.”

The contest was launched on November 17th, 2022, with entries that will be accepted till November 30th, 2022, and will be judged by leading faculty members of NUST and leadership from PepsiCo, and other stakeholders from the burgeoning recycling industry in Pakistan.

PepsiCo Pakistan is geared to use its reach and influence as one of the leading food and beverage companies in Pakistan to help change the way society makes, uses, and disposes of plastics. PepsiCo has launched several meaningful programs to drive a circular economy for plastics in collaboration with strategic partners to strengthen the recycling infrastructure in Pakistan. In collaboration with collection and recycling partners such as Green Earth Recycling, WWF, Novatex Limited, and Saaf Suthra Shehar, the company is running one of the country’s largest collection and recycling programs to drive a circular economy of plastics and demonstrate tangible impact.

PepsiCo Pakistan has also recently launched Pakistan’s first beverage bottle made from recycled plastic. This bold step towards sustainability and cutting down on virgin plastic has been welcomed by the Ministry of Climate Change (MoCC), Government of Pakistan and is in line with their “Recycle Plastics” initiative.