Belvidere Assembly Plant teams up with PepsiCo Recycling to support veterans

Nov. 11, 2015 – As the nation pauses to honour veterans on Nov. 11, the FCA US Belvidere Assembly Plant (Ill.), with assistance from PepsiCo Recycling, is launching a new program that will make recycling more convenient for its employees, but also help support disabled U.S. veterans.

Through the PepsiCo Recycling program, new recycling bins have been located in high traffic areas throughout the Belvidere plant. The materials collected in PepsiCo Recycling bins, including recyclables from Belvidere, help support PepsiCo Recycling’s partnership with the Entrepreneurship Bootcamp for Veterans with Disabilities (EBV), which provides training in entrepreneurship and small business management to post-9/11 veterans with disabilities. PepsiCo has donated $1.5 million to EBV since 2010.

“In a plant with nearly 4,500 employees that runs six days a week, we knew we were putting thousands of recyclable cans and bottles into trash containers destined for landfills each day and were looking for a way to change that behaviour,” said Michael Keefe, Belvidere’s environment lead. “Through the partnership with PepsiCo Recycling and with the support of our UAW partners, our employees can feel like they are making a real difference in our environment and giving back to those who gave so much to protect our way of life.”
 
The automaker says that with only 12 per cent of public space currently offering beverage container recycling solutions, the partnership between the Belvidere plant and PepsiCo is an “important step” in increasing the availability of recycling at the plant and engaging employees, of whom 8 per cent are veterans themselves, to be part of this initiative.
 
“We are thrilled to partner with the Belvidere Assembly Plant to make recycling beverage containers a more convenient and accessible process for everyone,” said Tim Carey, PepsiCo senior director of sustainability. “The small act of recycling in a PepsiCo Recycling bin can make a big impact.”
 
Over the years, the Belvidere plant has built Chrysler, Dodge, Plymouth and Jeep models, including the Plymouth Horizon and Dodge Omni, Chrysler New Yorker, Dodge Dynasty, Chrysler Imperial, Plymouth and Dodge Neon, and Dodge Caliber. The plant currently builds the Dodge Dart, Jeep Compass and Jeep Patriot with three crews, each working four 10-hour days on two shifts, six days a week.