Pepsi Gets Heat for Lack of Recycling

PepsiCo Inc. broke its 1990 promise to make soda bottles with 25 percent recycled plastic and the company has spent millions of dollars lobbying against recycling legislation, environmental leaders claim.

"More than 1.6 million Pepsi soda bottles and cans are thrown away every hour in the United States. In one day, more than 40 million Pepsi soft drink containers become litter or get sent to landfills and incinerators," said Bill Sheehan, national network coordinator for the Athens, Georgia-based Grass Roots Recycling Network.

"We have targeted Pepsi for several reasons. First, because Pepsi broke its 1990 promise to use recycled plastic in making new soda bottles. Second, because the company increasingly relies on throwaway plastic bottles, and three out of four end up in landfills or incinerators. Third, because Pepsi has spent millions of dollars to defeat the most effective beverage container recycling laws in the nation -- bottle bills," said Lance King, a spokesman for environmental groups supporting the shareholder resolution.

The non-binding resolution calls for PepsiCo to meet two specific recycling goals by January 1, 2005:

* Make Pepsi plastic bottles with 25 percent recycled plastic

* Achieve an 80 percent national recycling rate for bottles and cans

PepsiCo and Coca-Cola both promised in 1990 to use 25% recycled plastic in their plastic bottles. Coke recently started using a small amount of recycled plastic in the United States, and CEO Doug Daft announced at the April 18 meeting that Coke has set a 10%recycled content goal by 2005 for their plastic bottles.

A spokesman for PepsiCo countered the claim made that the company reneged on its promise. “We (Pepsi) do not make promises we do not keep.

He added that what the Grass Roots Recycling Network is referring to was a test program that the company undertook, and not a full-fledged commitment.

“Even as we speak we are looking at various technologies,” he added. While the company is looking at some opportunities to increase the use of recycled plastics in soft drink bottles, “it must be cost effective,” the spokesman stressed.