PLANO, Texas—Frito-Lay and Quaker announced the opening of an industry-leading Greenhouse Learning Center at PepsiCo’s R&D headquarters. The Learning Center will be used to test, measure and analyze compostable packaging with an aim to speed up the rate of innovation, PepsiCo said.

According to the company, the facility represents a key milestone to achieve the company's PepsiCo Positive (pep+) packaging goal to design 100 percent of packaging to be recyclable, compostable, biodegradable or reusable by 2025.

"We're actively changing our own compostable snack packaging technologies,” said Denise Lefebvre, senior vice president of R&D for PepsiCo. “By sharing these technologies, we're inviting the industry to make these changes as well. We are prioritizing, investing in and expediting projects to build a more circular, inclusive economy."

The Learning Center is intended to enable packaging products to move from testing to certification-ready at least two to three times faster. The new facility, the first of its kind across PepsiCo globally, is located next to and complements the existing prototyping lab where compostable packaging is born. It also aims to actively change industry standards by educating partners and stakeholders on the benefits of transitioning to compostable packaging, demonstrate circularity with biodegradable materials and provide training to co-ops and visitors.

"We look forward to leveraging key findings from the Greenhouse Learning Center, alongside our scale, reach and expertise across North America and globally, to drive progress across our organization and the entire industry," said David Allen, chief sustainability officer, Frito-Lay and Quaker. "We must work together to inspire positive change for the planet and people, and Frito-Lay and Quaker are proud to be leading the way."