PepsiCo, a major food and beverage sector player, is looking into reducing its carbon footprint from IT operations with the adoption of Lenovo’s CO2 Offset Service. This initiative is part of the company’s broader environmental strategy, including a target to reduce over 40% of greenhouse gas emissions across its value chain by 2030.
Lenovo’s CO2 Offset Service, introduced in May 2022, allows organizations to manage their IT-related carbon emissions efficiently. It operates by estimating the carbon footprint across the lifecycle of IT equipment and enabling the purchase of corresponding carbon credits. These credits contribute to climate action projects approved by the United Nations.
At PepsiCo, the service is being adopted in their Brazilian operations, which include a technology park with over 4,000 computers. It is now the first in the world among the company’s subsidiaries to use Lenovo’s service, with broader plans to assess the feasibility of expanding this initiative to other countries.
This initiative aligns with PepsiCo’s environmental strategy, which aims to cut greenhouse gas emissions by over 40% across its entire value chain by 2030. Notably, the company aims for a 75% reduction in emissions from its direct operations as part of this target.
Renato Gaido, Senior Information Technology Manager at PepsiCo, noted the service’s alignment with the company’s broader environmental strategies.
“PepsiCo is a company that recognizes and values the importance of acting with integrity in all of its processes,” he said. “We have a global Environmental, Social and Governance strategy – which we call PepsiCo Positive (pep+) – focused on maintaining an operation that seeks efficiency, while taking care of people and the planet.
“Therefore, we are always looking for projects and partners that will help us to contribute to managing the impact of our business on the environment, as is the case of Lenovo CO2 Offset, an important service to that helps our IT team contribute to this process.”
PepsiCo: “Easily traceable” system for organizations
PepsiCo’s adoption of Lenovo’s CO2 Offset Service places the company among other corporations integrating environmental considerations into their IT infrastructure. The partnership highlights a growing trend in the corporate world to address the environmental impacts of technology use.
It’s a move that has allowed for more transparency in how these carbon credits are applied. “We were able to consult from a serial number and an international certificate, which registers which project approved by the United Nations the respective machine is benefiting,” said Gaido. “They are easily traceable projects, worldwide, which are audited and monitored.”
Lenovo offers this carbon offset option for its various product lines, including Think, Legion, and Yoga PCs, as well as servers. Since its launch, Lenovo’s service has reportedly offset 1 million metric tons of carbon dioxide, akin to the annual emissions from over 215,000 passenger vehicles.
“Lenovo is committed to the vision of providing smarter technology for all people and helping to decarbonize the global economy,” said Leandro Lofrano, Lenovo’s director of corporate products. “We have expanded this vision to our internal processes and services to invite our customers to join us on this journey towards a more sustainable future.”
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