The FINANCIAL -- PepsiCo announced a partnership with the Atrium Mall - James R. Thompson Center that will make the Dream Machine recycling program available to Chicago-area commuters, visitors and residents, according to  PepsiCo.

With 2,500 Dream Machine-sponsored Free Green Cans already deployed throughout the Chicago Park District, the Thompson Center is among the first to welcome a Dream Machine recycling kiosk to the heart of downtown Chicago.

To commemorate the launch, Illinois Governor Pat Quinn joined representatives from PepsiCo, Waste Management, and the Entrepreneurship Bootcamp for Veterans with Disabilities , at a ribbon cutting ceremony at the Thompson Center. The Dream Machine recycling initiative, created by PepsiCo in collaboration with Waste Management and Keep America Beautiful, Inc., is introducing thousands of recycling kiosks and bins at popular public locations across North America.

The kiosks are computerized receptacles that include a personal reward system, powered by Greenopolis, which allows consumers to earn points for every bottle or can they recycle in the kiosk. In addition, the more bottles and cans people recycle in Dream Machines, the more support PepsiCo will provide to the EBV, a national program offering free, experiential training in entrepreneurship and small business management to post-9/11 U.S. veterans with disabilities.

With approximately 4,000 Dream Machines located in 40 states to-date, the program aims to create strategic partnerships to help increase the U.S. beverage container recycling rate to 50 percent by 2018.

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