One company’s waste can be another’s treasure, and if converting waste into potential gems is done correctly, it can pay off in the long run. At Frito-Lay North America, Plano, TX, the nation’s largest snack producer, one such treasure came from the waste it generates from slicing potatoes for potato chips.

“We were releasing starch molecules in the slicing process, and now, we are making starch as a byproduct,” noted Eric Battino, supplier sustainability manager at PepsiCo, Purchase, NY. “We dry it, and people buy it from us. It’s an ingredient in their processes.”