Drinks brands constantly tell people to recycle their plastic and aluminium waste. But the truth is, two thirds of containers in Australia actually don’t get recycled. It was clear to us that ‘telling’ people how to recycling wasn’t enough to drive real action. So Pepsi decided to step up.

Australia’s existing recycling infrastructure relied on a stagnant 10c refund model that had not evolved in 50 years. To genuinely shift behavior, PepsiCo needed to make the act of recycling inherently engaging rather than relying on these empty lectures.

Partnering with TOMRA, global recycling tech company, and NSW Government-run recycling scheme “Return and Earn” we developed new identification code for Reverse Vending Machines that could detect unique Pepsi barcodes when deposited.

This technological breakthrough transformed a stagnant, rote chore into a gamified, consumer-first experience. In a world-first initiative, whenever a consumer deposited a Pepsi product, the machine's new code prompted it to print a unique QR receipt. By scanning this code in real-time, the consumer could instantly discover if they had earned the standard 10c refund, or an additional amount of $100, $1,000, $10,000, or $50,000. By drastically elevating the incentive, Pepsi turned passive recycling into an actively rewarding experience.

Excitingly, this functionality is now compatible with TOMRA’s global network of machines, meaning that any brand in the world, not just Pepsi, can encourage greater recycling as we have here in the state of NSW.

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