Ohio Northern University has announced that it will advance its recycling efforts by teaming up with PepsiCo Recycling to bring a PepsiCo Dream Machine kiosk and added recycling incentives to campus.
The PepsiCo Dream Machine kiosk introduces a rewarding program that provides students with an easy and convenient way to make a difference by recycling their bottles and cans on the go. The kiosk will be located in the lobby of the mail center in the McIntosh Student Center.
The Dream Machine program, one of PepsiCo’s many recycling initiatives, consists of computerized receptacles that reward users with points for every plastic PET No. 1 beverage bottle or aluminum can recycled in the kiosk. There will be an option to print a receipt that will offer automatic savings to off-campus local merchants as well as the ONU Bookstore. New users can create a 10-digit numerical Rewards ID by visiting PepsiCoRecycling.com to register for the program and login at the kiosk.
Additionally, when recycling a beverage container, each person will accumulate points and receive discounts on many nationwide stores and restaurants at PepsiCoRecycling.com. PepsiCo has collected more than 247 million containers and 14 million pounds of recyclable materials through the Dream Machine program alone to date.
We are excited about working with PepsiCo to enable a recycling experience that is fun and rewarding for students on many levels,” said Terry Keiser, ONU director of sustainability. “I know both our students and faculty care about making a positive difference, and with the convenience and added incentives that come with the PepsiCo Recycling program, I expect Ohio Northern University to play an important role in contributing to this initiative.”
ONU is one of the first schools in Ohio to receive a PepsiCo Dream Machine kiosk. There are over 130 Dream Machine kiosks in operation across the United States.
As part of the collaboration, ONU will join other participating colleges and universities across the nation in a competition that tracks recycling progress online at PepsiCoRecycling.com.
The PepsiCo Recycling program has introduced thousands of new recycling solutions to colleges and universities, K-12 schools, gas stations and busy retail locations across North America with the goal of increasing the U.S. beverage-container recycling rate to 50 percent by 2018. Since PepsiCo issued its goal in 2010, recycling rates have already increased by eight percent (from 34 percent to 42 percent today).
Aside from the inherent benefits of keeping our communities free of beverage can litter and our landfills free of recyclable materials, recycling in a Dream Machine enables students to help support disabled U.S. veterans. The recycled materials make it possible for PepsiCo to donate funds to the Entrepreneurship Bootcamp for Veterans with Disabilities (EBV). Through the EBV program, post-9/11 disabled veterans receive training, at no cost, in entrepreneurship and small business management so they can make their own dreams come true.
"We are thrilled to partner with ONU to make recycling beverage containers a more fun, rewarding and convenient process for college students,” said Tim Carey, senior director of sustainability at PepsiCo. “By recycling in the on-campus Dream Machine, students can earn personal rewards, show their school spirit and help to make a real difference for our planet and in the lives of disabled U.S. veterans.”
