New York prosecutor sues PepsiCo for plastic pollution

The accusation indicates that the majority of plastics collected each year on the banks of this river are bottles, caps and snack wrappers manufactured by the company.

The Prosecutor’s Office of New York, United States (USA) sued the soft drink giant this Wednesday PepsiCo due to plastic pollution from the Buffalo River.

According to the Prosecutor’s Office, the company’s plastic containers threaten public health by using and throwing them away. In addition, they accuse the American multinational of “misleading” the public about its efforts to eliminate plastic waste.

“All New Yorkers have a basic right to clean water, but PepsiCo’s irresponsible packaging and marketing endangers Buffalo’s water supply, environment and public health,” prosecutor Letitia James said in the note.

In this context, the accusation indicates that the majority of plastics that are collected each year on the banks of this river in the Mississippi basin, located northwest of New York, are bottles, caps and snack wrappers, also manufactured by the company that break down to form microplastics.

In addition, the text specified that PepsiCo packaging predominates among the large amount of waste materials, far ahead of other brands.

Report of the plastic found

In a 2022 investigation carried out by authorities in the field on the types of plastic found at 13 points along the Buffalo River and its slope, more than 2,600 objects with visibly identifiable marks were collected.

In this case, 73% corresponded to plastic waste, of which 17% was produced by PepsiCo, compared to McDonald’s with 5.7% and Hershey’s 4.2%.

Furthermore, within the arguments, the Prosecutor’s Office pointed out that the company is responsible for a “public harm” against the residents of the city of Buffalo and its surroundings, “since microplastics have been detected in both the drinking water that the town obtains from Lake Erie, close to the mouth, as in the fish of both waters.”

Complete recycling processes

On the other hand, New York authorities accused PepsiCo of not complying with the processes to reduce the use of non-recycled or virgin plastics in its packaging.

Which contributed to the 11% increase in plastic packaging in 2022 alone, over a last four-year period, a figure that the authority attributes to the company itself.

For its part, the Prosecutor’s Office announced that it is seeking compensation for damages, as well as the intention to stop the pollution caused, in addition to the application of measures to reduce the amount of plastic packaging in the Buffalo River.