PepsiCo bows to shareholder pressure and agrees to establish single-use bottle reduction goals

17 Mar 2022 --- PepsiCo has agreed to develop a time-bound goal to deliver a certain percentage of its packaging through reusable or refillable systems by the end of the year after being pressured by shareholder advocacy group As You Saw. 

The company says it is now assessing its capabilities, infrastructure and consumer preferences before setting specific targets by 2023. 

Last year, As You Saw released a statement noting that despite PepsiCo’s claims on environmental sustainability, the company is continuously ranked as one of the world’s worst single-use plastics polluters. 

In its statement, As You Saw said: “Despite taking actions to reduce virgin plastic use and increase recycling, PepsiCo has been cited as a top global plastic packaging polluter for four consecutive years.” 

“Experts believe refillable bottles are key to addressing plastic pollution and can increase financial return, yet the company reports zero percent of packaging delivered in refillable containers, lagging its peers.”

PepsiCo has agreed to conceive plastic reduction strategies by the end of this year.“Pepsi’s packaging generates enormous amounts of plastic pollution with ­2.3 million metric tons of plastic packaging annually, the equivalent of 140,000 bottles per minute. Single-use bottles are far more likely to be improperly disposed of and to become ocean pollution, harming marine life.” 

Bowing to pressure 
Since the statement was released, PepsiCo has deliberated and now taken what it describes as a “significant step” – agreeing to fix new targets by the end of this year and promising to focus on bringing forward material reducing projects such as its Soda Stream subsidiary. 

These pledges have been enough to convince As You Saw, who has now agreed in turn to withdraw its shareholder proposals that were pressuring PepsiCo.

Before PepsiCo’s new pledges, As You Saw asserted that: “Pepsi has not committed to investing in refillable equipment nor the system infrastructure that will be needed to keep pace with Coca-Cola’s refillable operations in many countries. Pepsi should consider how to build a refillable presence in global markets, including setting refillable packaging goals and timelines to ensure expedited reduction of plastic use and plastic waste.” 

“Shareholders request the board of directors issue a report at reasonable expense and excluding proprietary information, describing the potential and options for the company to rapidly reduce dependence on single-use plastic packaging.”

Refill vs recycling 
Less than 30% of PET plastic bottles are recycled in the US, says As You Saw, leaving the vast majority to be landfilled or leak into the environment. “Each refillable bottle can displace a single-use bottle and, with a 95% collection rate in well-managed systems, refillable are far less likely to end up as plastic waste,” says the group. 

PepsiCo has made some strides toward reducing its environmental footprint recently, with its European branch announcing plans to eliminate virgin fossil-based plastic in all of its chip bags by 2030. The food and beverage giant proposes using 100% recycled or renewable plastic instead, reducing greenhouse gasses from film packaging by up to 40%. 

Meanwhile, The Refill Coalition has brought together leading UK retailers to pioneer scalable refill solutions, including an “industry-first” bulk home delivery model.

By Louis Gore-Langton