Pepsi has been repeatedly criticized by environmentalists for its relationship to negative
environmental impacts of agriculture in its supply chain and in its distributing operations, such as
palm oil–related deforestation and pesticide use, its use of water resources, and the negative impacts of its packaging—Pepsi's packaging has consistently been one of the top sources of
plastic pollution globally. Similarly, public health advocates have criticized Pepsi's high-calorie, poor nutrition product lines along with other popular snack and drink manufacturers. In response, PepsiCo made public comments on its commitment to minimizing their impact but has not released public information documenting progress on most of its public commitments.
Working conditions In July 2021, Frito-Lay, a subsidiary of PepsiCo became the subject to media attention over poor working conditions at its plant in
Topeka. These conditions, which allegedly include forced overtime and 84-hour workweeks for months, led to a strike involving hundreds of workers at the Topeka location. The strike began on July 5 and ended on July 23, after ratifications of a two-year contract that guarantees workers at least one day off each week and raised wages.
Environmental record Rainforests and palm oil PepsiCo Palm Oil Commitments published in May 2014 were welcomed by media as a positive step towards ensuring that the company's
palm oil purchases will not contribute to deforestation and human rights abuses in the palm oil industry. NGOs warned that the commitments did not go far enough, and in light of the deforestation crisis in Southeast Asia, have called on the company to close the gaps in its policies immediately.
Genetically modified ingredients PepsiCo has contributed US$1,716,300 to oppose the passage of California Proposition 37, which would mandate the disclosure of
genetically modified crops used in the production of California food products. PepsiCo believes "that genetically-modified products can play a role in generating positive economic, social and environmental contributions to societies around the world; particularly in times of food shortages."
Water usage (India, U.S., U.K.) PepsiCo's usage of water was the subject of controversy in India in the early and mid-2000s, in part because of the company's alleged impact on water usage in a country where
water shortages are a perennial issue. In this setting, PepsiCo was perceived by India-based environmental organizations as a company that diverted water to manufacture a discretionary product, making it a target for critics at the time. As a result, in 2003 PepsiCo launched a country-wide program to achieve a "positive water balance" in India by 2009. In 2007, PepsiCo's then-CEO Indra Nooyi made a trip to India to address water usage practices in the country, prompting prior critic
Sunita Narain, director of the Centre for Science & Environment (CSE), to note that PepsiCo "seem(s) to be doing something serious about water now." In response, the company formed partnerships with non-profit organizations such as the
Earth Institute and
Water.org, and in 2009 began cleaning new Gatorade bottles with purified air instead of rinsing with water, among other
water conservation practices. In the United Kingdom, also in response to regional
drought conditions, PepsiCo snacks brand Walkers' reduced water usage at its largest
potato chip facility by 45 percent between 2001 and 2008. In doing so, the factory used machinery that captured water naturally contained in potatoes, and used it to offset the need for outside water. As a result of water reduction practices and efficiency improvements, PepsiCo in 2009 saved more than 12 billion liters of water worldwide, compared to its 2006 water usage. Environmental advocacy organizations including the
Natural Resources Defense Council and individual critics such as
Rocky Anderson (mayor of
Salt Lake City, Utah) voiced concerns in 2009, noting that the company could conserve additional water by refraining from the production of discretionary products such as Aquafina. The company maintained its positioning of bottled water as "healthy and convenient", while also beginning to partially offset environmental impacts of such products through alternate means, including
packaging weight reduction. PepsiCo denied the allegations, and India's health ministry has also dismissed the allegations—both questioning the accuracy of the data compiled by the CSE, as it was tested by its own internal laboratories without being verified by outside peer review. The ensuing dispute prompted a short-lived ban on the sale of PepsiCo and The Coca-Cola Company soft drinks within India's southwestern state of
Kerala in 2006; however this ban was reversed by the Kerala High Court one month later. In November 2010, the
Supreme Court of India invalidated a criminal complaint filed against PepsiCo India by the
Kerala government, on the basis that the beverages did meet local standards at the time of the allegations. The court ruling stated that the "percentage of pesticides" found in the tested beverages was "within the tolerance limits subsequently prescribed in respect of such product" because at the time of testing "there was no provision governing pesticide adulteration in cold drinks." In 2010, PepsiCo was among the 12 multinational companies that displayed "the most impressive corporate social responsibility credentials in emerging markets", as determined by the
U.S. Department of State. PepsiCo's India unit received recognition on the basis of its water conservation and safety practices and corresponding results.
Packaging and recycling Environmental advocates have raised concern over the environmental impacts surrounding the disposal of PepsiCo's bottled beverage products in particular, as bottle
recycling rates for the company's products in 2009 averaged 34 percent within the U.S. In 2019, BreakFreeFromPlastic named PepsiCo a top 10 global plastic polluter for the second year in a row. The company has employed efforts to minimize these environmental impacts via
packaging developments combined with recycling initiatives. In 2010, PepsiCo announced a goal to create partnerships that prompt an increase in the beverage container recycling rate in the U.S. to 50 percent by 2018. One strategy enacted to reach this goal has been the placement of interactive recycling kiosks called "Dream Machines" in supermarkets,
convenience stores, and
gas stations, with the intent of increasing access to recycling receptacles. The use of
resin to manufacture its
plastic bottles has resulted in reduced packaging weight, which in turn reduces the volume of
fossil fuels required to transport certain PepsiCo products. The weight of Aquafina bottles was reduced nearly 40 percent, to 15 grams, with a packaging redesign in 2009. Also in that year, PepsiCo brand
Naked Juice began production and distribution of the first 100 percent
post-consumer recycled plastic bottle. On March 15, 2011, PepsiCo unveiled the world's first plant-based
PET bottle. The bottle is made from plant-based materials, such as
switch grass,
corn husks, and pine bark, and is 100% recyclable. PepsiCo plans to reuse more by-products of its manufacturing processes such as orange peels and oat hulls in the bottles. PepsiCo has identified methods to create a molecular structure that is the same as normal petroleum-based PET—which will make the new bottle technology, dubbed "Green Bottle", similar to Coke's "PlantBottle" idea from 2009, which feel the same as normal PET. PepsiCo have said to pilot production in 2012, and upon successful completion of the pilot, intends moving to full-scale commercialization, however in 2021 there are still no records of such bottles being produced. In a bid to reduce packaging consumption, in recent years the PepsiCoPartners launched as a service offering carbonated drinks dispensers within the US. The dispensers are currently being trialed in large corporate offices and universities. In 2020 PepsiCo teamed up with French biochemistry startup
Carbios in order to promote and establish a new recycling method for used plastic bottles. This method uses enzymes to dissolve plastic very thoroughly and the final leftovers can be used to produce textiles.
Energy use and greenhouse gas emissions PepsiCo, along with other manufacturers in its industry, has drawn criticism from environmental advocacy groups for the production and distribution of plastic product packaging, which consumed an additional of
petrochemicals in 2008. These critics have also expressed apprehension over the production volume of plastic packaging, which results in the
emission of
carbon dioxide. Beginning largely in 2006, PepsiCo began development of more efficient means of producing and distributing its products using less energy, while also placing a focus on
emissions reduction. Also in 2009, PepsiCo began the test deployment of so-called "green
vending machines", which reduce energy usage by 15 percent in comparison to average models in use. It developed these machines in coordination with
Greenpeace, which described the initiative as "transforming the industry in a way that is going to be more
climate-friendly to a great degree." Pepsico has succeeded in achieving 23% of its absolute emissions target reduction as of 2022.
Product nutrition According to its 2009 annual report, PepsiCo states that it is "committed to delivering sustainable growth by investing in a healthier future for people and our planet", which it has defined in its mission statement since 2006 as "Performance with Purpose". According to news and magazine coverage on the subject in 2010, the objective of this initiative is to increase the number and variety of healthier food and beverage products made available to its customers, employ a reduction in the company's
environmental impact, and to facilitate
diversity and healthy lifestyles within its employee base. Its activities in regards to the pursuit of its goals—namely environmental impacts of production and the nutritional composition of its products—have been the subject of recognition from health and environmental advocates and organizations, and at times have raised concerns among its critics. As the result of a more recent focus on such efforts, "critics consider (PepsiCo) to be perhaps the most proactive and progressive of the food companies", according to former
New York Times food industry writer Melanie Warner in 2010.
Product diversity From its founding in 1965 until the early 1990s, the majority of PepsiCo's product line consisted of carbonated soft drinks and convenience
snacks. PepsiCo broadened its product line substantially throughout the 1990s and 2000s with the
acquisition and development of what its CEO deemed as "good-for-you" products, including
Quaker Oats,
Naked Juice, and Tropicana orange juice. Sales of such healthier-oriented PepsiCo brands totaled US$10 billion in 2009, representing 18 percent of the company's total revenue in that year. This movement into a broader, healthier product range has been moderately well received by nutrition advocates; though commentators in this field have also suggested that PepsiCo market its healthier items as aggressively as less-healthy core products. In response to shifting consumer preferences and in part due to increasing governmental regulation, PepsiCo in 2010 indicated its intention to grow this segment of its business, forecasting that sales of fruit, vegetable,
whole grain, and
fiber-based products will amount to US$30 billion by 2020. To meet this intended target, the company has said that it plans to acquire additional health-oriented brands while also making changes to the composition of existing products that it sells. Changes to the composition of its products with nutrition in mind have involved reducing fat content, moving away from
trans-fats, and producing products in
calorie-specific
serving sizes to discourage
overconsumption, among other changes. On May 5, 2014, PepsiCo announced that the company would remove
brominated vegetable oil from many of its products, but a timeframe was not discussed.
Distribution to children As public perception placed additional scrutiny on the marketing and distribution of carbonated soft drinks to children, PepsiCo announced in 2010 that by 2012, it will remove beverages with higher sugar content from primary and secondary schools worldwide. It also, under voluntary guidelines adopted in 2006, replaced "full-calorie" beverages in U.S. schools with "lower-calorie" alternatives, leading to a 95 percent reduction in the 2009 sales of full-calorie variants in these schools in comparison to the sales recorded in 2004. In 2008, in accordance with guidelines adopted by the International Council of Beverages Associations, PepsiCo eliminated the advertising and marketing of products that do not meet its nutrition standards, to children under the age of 12. In 2010,
Michelle Obama initiated a campaign to end
childhood obesity (titled ''
Let's Move!''), in which she sought to encourage healthier food options in
public schools, improved food
nutrition labeling, and increased
physical activity for children. In response to this initiative, PepsiCo, along with food manufacturers
Campbell Soup, Coca-Cola,
General Mills, and others in an alliance referred to as the "
Healthy Weight Commitment Foundation", announced in 2010 that the companies will collectively cut one trillion calories from its products sold by the end of 2012 and 1.5 trillion calories by the end of 2015. ==See also==