Drip irrigation and sprinkler irrigation can save up to 50% of water. Photo: Courtesy of PepsiCo

PepsiCo-Tingyi, the strategic alliance between PepsiCo and Tingyi, won multiple awards on Monday, for its outstanding water-conservation and energy-saving initiatives at the China Beverage Industry Association (CBIA) annual conference held in Shanghai under the theme of "The Environment and Sustainable Development."

The PepsiCo-Tingyi alliance scooped up 48 percent of the CBIA awards, with 30 of its plants receiving water-conservation excellence awards and 34 facilities receiving energy-saving excellence awards. In 2019 12 more PepsiCo-Tingyi plants were honored awards than the previous year. The alliance has continued its winning streak for many years in the CBIA water-and energy-conservation award ceremony. 

Since its formation as China's leading beverage production system in 2012, the PepsiCo-Tingyi alliance has not only driven the vigorous development of its beverage business, but also achieved outstanding success in water conservation and energy efficiency by leveraging each partner's resources and advantages, making their plants benchmark green facilities in China's beverage industry.

James Wei, CEO of Tingyi Holding Corp said: "Advocating energy conservation and environmental protections, and pursuing green development to benefit the current generation and the generations to come is one of our sustainability objectives. Tingyi has been steadfastly committing to sustainable operations, giving back to society and creating a sustainable future by working together to build a better life." 

Improved awareness, expert management and the application of advanced technology are the keys to the success of Tingyi's energy efficiency and water-conservation efforts. Tingyi has made significant progress in water conservation and energysaving thanks to its improved water treatment system Reverse Osmosis (RO) efficiency, better wastewater recovery, increased utilization of recycled water, and enhanced steam condensate recovery and recycling. In 2018, total water and electricity consumption at Tingyi beverage plants decreased by 0.2and 2.3percent respectively, from ayear earlier.

Tingyi built wastewater treatment stations at its plants and upgraded oxygen-consuming wastewater treatment process, reducing the environmental footprint and ensuring that sewage discharge meets standards on its hardware facilities. In 2018, Tingyi invested some 32 million yuan ($4.5 million) on new sewage treatment projects and existing systems upgrade, making all of Tingyi's plants compliant with the third-level sewage discharge standards, among which at least 10 are compliant with both the first-level and second-level sewage discharge standards.

In addition, Tingyi has spared no effort in developing and evaluating clean and renewable energy systems. For example, solar photovoltaic systems have been fitted to the roofs at its Xi'an, Suzhou and Jiangmen plants, resulting in large energy-efficiency gains.

Weiwei Yao, SVP & GM, Asia Pacific & China Beverages, said: "PepsiCo has been in China for nearly 40 years, and our commitment to continuous innovation and the integration of green production and operation methods into every aspect of PepsiCo's business has been widely recognized by the beverage industry. Adhering to the concept of 'Winning with Purpose,' we will continue to be consumer-centric and contribute to the healthy and sustainable development of China's beverage industry while winning market share."

For many years, PepsiCo China beverage system has been introducing the firm's global ReCon (Resource Conservation) system, which uses management tools to help bottling plants improve their water utilization rate and energy consumption. Through the integrated application of improved management and technology systems, including big data analysis of water and energy usage, Pepsi plants saw an overall improvement in terms of consumption in 2018.

PepsiCo's industry-leading energy-saving best practices include air compressor thermal energy recovery, energy consumption management of critical equipment and steam valve thermal insulation. Looking at water conservation, concentrated water recovery, water usage management and reclaimed water usage in the wastewater treatment processes are some examples of the firm's efforts. As part of the implementation of the ReCon management tool, the firm's staffs have been fully trained to help drive the conservation efforts.

Another example of sustainable practice is Zhengzhou Pepsi plant, which has been the continued improvement in its water utilization rate through the implementation of concentrated water recovery system and expanded investment of upgraded wastewater treatment systems. By expanding the reclaimed water storage tanks, reclaimed water usage at the plant has, on average, exceeded 60 percent this year, with some months surpassing 90 percent. That's compared with an average rate of under 15 percent in 2018. The reclaimed water is not only used to irrigate plants and clean roads at the production facility, but also provide the municipal government with water. As Zhengzhou City has low water supply, Zhengzhou Pepsi plant's success in reclaiming water contributes to alleviating the scarcity of water resources and has a positive impact on the community, a feat recognized by the municipal government.