PepsiCo rolls out vegetable oil-fueled trucks for UK transports

PepsiCo (NASDAQ:PEP) is switching from diesel fuel to hydrotreated vegetable oil (HVO) to power the trucks transporting potatoes across the U.K. to its Walkers Crisps factory in Leicester, England.

According to a report in the UK trade journal Logistics Manager, the Purchase-headquartered company partnered with the British agricultural logistics service provider AB Texel on this endeavor. PepsiCo will use 800,000 liters of HVO fuel to replace diesel across approximately 1.6 million miles of truck journeys, which involves the transporting of 240,000 ton of potatoes annually to the Leicester facility. PepsiCo said this effort will result in reducing 2,650 tons of greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions each year.

“We”™re always looking for innovative ways to tackle our carbon footprint and the move to HVO for all our potato deliveries to Leicester, the home of Walkers, is a significant step,” said Simon Devaney, PepsiCo”™s sustainability director in the U.K. “HVO fuel plays an important role in helping us to accelerate the decarbonization of our transport activities.”

Separately, PepsiCo”™s U.K. operations also deployed two electric trucks to transport goods between its factories in Leicester and Coventry. The company said the electric trucks will reduce GHG emissions by more than 1,600 tons over the next three years.