Lay’s RePlay to Repurpose Packaging and Make Sustainable Football Pitches Around the World

Lay’s RePlay has partnered with the UEFA Foundation and streetfootballworld to bring good to local communities worldwide by reusing empty chip packs to help create sustainable football pitches.

The initiative is called Lay’s RePlay and they are uniting communities and driving positive change in underprivileged areas around the world.

The company hopes to build five Lay’s RePlay football pitched by the end of 2021. The first one will be in Tembisa, South Africa, followed by communities in Russia, Brazil, Turkey, and the UK.

Lay’s RePlay is on a mission to provide football pitches to aid the 3,600 hours of play and educational sporting programs that can help more than 16,000 community members. Lay’s RePlay impacts communities by targeting and addressing social issues in each. The football pitch in South Africa hopes, through local programming, to empower the youth, promote inclusivity and shared life skills taught through EduFootball sessions.

“Providing people with joy one chip and one bag at a time is at the heart of our brand. Building upon decades of experience bringing people together with the game, we are proud to introduce Lay’s RePlay. More than just a planet positive pitch, we are working with local partners to build spaces and programs that can deliver positive impact and change for generations to come,” said Sebnem Erim, VP, marketing, Global Foods at PepsiCo, in a press release.

Lionel Messi, the famous football player, has been a Lay’s supporter for a long time and he said, “I was lucky enough to start playing football at a young age and it transformed my life. Everyone deserves the chance to play and fall in love with the sport, and Lay’s RePlay is giving communities across the world that opportunity. I’m proud to give back through this project and excited about the impact it can have on the next generation.”

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The environmental impacts of creating a football pitch could be significant, but Lay’s RePlay wants to maximize social values and minimize those impacts. The material being used to make the pitch, installation, and design will all be environmentally friendly.

Working in partnership with GreenFields will make this happen because they will take the empty Lay’s chip packets from local waste and recycling partnerships to give them a second life. They will be shredded and transformed into pellets that will lie underneath the eco-friendly turf called Ecocept. Both are 100 percent recyclable.

Additionally, Lay’s is committed to adopting a carbon compensation strategy, aiming to have a net-zero carbon footprint over the life span of the football field of an estimated ten years.

Aleksander Čeferin, Chairman of UEFA Foundation for children, states, “We’ve seen first-hand how football and sport can be used to better people’s lives. By working together and supporting Lay’s RePlay, we are having an instant impact on thousands of people who may not otherwise have anywhere to play or an opportunity to develop for the better.”

Lay’s has been around for a long time in the football community, partnering with Men’s UEFA Champions League and UEFA Women’s football. Furthermore, Lay’s RePlay has created artificial pitches in Jordan’s largest refugee camps, Za’atari and Azraq Refugee Camps, which have helped provide a pitch for over 35,000 people.