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[GreenYes] RELEASE: Pepsi Broke Recycling Promise
- Subject: [GreenYes] RELEASE: Pepsi Broke Recycling Promise
- From: "Bill Sheehan" <bill_sheehan@mindspring.com>
- Date: Fri, 27 Apr 2001 08:19:52 -0400
NEWS RELEASE
April 27, 2001
Contact: Lance King (703) 536-7282
Bill Sheehan (706) 613-7121
PEPSI 'BROKE RECYCLING PROMISE',
ENVIRONMENTAL GROUPS CLAIM
Shareholder Resolution Focuses Attention on
Pepsi's Bottle and Can Waste
ATLANTA, GA (April 27, 2001) - PepsiCo
Inc. (Ticker: PEP) 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
said today.
"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
GrassRoots Recycling Network.
"It's time for Pepsi to take responsibility for
wasting billions of beverage containers each year.
We urge Pepsi shareholders to vote for the recycling
proposal, proxy item Number 6, at the annual
shareholder meeting in Dallas, Texas on May 2,"
Sheehan said.
PepsiCo is the nation's second largest
beverage maker. PepsiCo shareholders can vote via
the Internet for the recycling proposal by going to
the GrassRoots Recycling Network web site, at
www.grrn.org.
"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.
Walden Asset Management of Boston, and
Domini Social Investments of New York, which
together own $20 million worth of PepsiCo stock,
submitted 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; and
* Achieve an 80 percent national recycling
rate for bottles and cans.
The PepsiCo recycling resolution is similar to
one introduced at the April 18 Coke shareholder
meeting. That proposal received 5.2% 'Yes" votes,
representing 88.9 million shares worth more than $4
billion.
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.
Environmental groups led by the GrassRoots
Recycling Network have waged a four-year
campaign targeting Coca-Cola to take responsibility
for rising beverage container waste and declining
recycling rates.
"Coke has been the focus of our campaign
because they are the market leader, with 44% of the
U.S. soft drink market. Pepsi, with 31% market
share, has done nothing. Pepsi has gotten a free
ride. But that is about to change," said Sheehan.
"Plastics are now the largest portion of
beverage container waste in the United States.," Pat
Franklin, executive director of the Arlington,
Virginia-based Container Recycling Institute said.
"Beverage container waste increased more than 50
percent from 1992 to 1999. Pepsi is a big part of
the problem."
"Pepsi needs to take responsibility for its
bottle and can waste. Throwing away billions of
bottles and cans every year burdens local
government and taxpayers with clean-up costs,
pollutes the environment, and squanders valuable
energy needed to make new containers from virgin
resources," Franklin said.
"The shareholder resolutions set realistic
goals, based on actual experience. Plastic soda
bottles are made with 25 percent recycled plastic in
several countries, including Australia, Switzerland
and Sweden. Coke has started using recycled
plastic again in the United States, while Pepsi shirks
its responsibility," Bob Woodall, executive director
of Atlanta, Georgia-based Waste Not Georgia, said.
"Ten states across America already achieve an
80 percent recycling rate for bottles and cans by
requiring a refundable deposit on beverage
containers. The key to increase recycling on a
national basis is providing appropriate financial
incentives," Woodall said.
PepsiCo's recent acquisition of Gatorade
brand, the sports drink leader, is both good news
and bad news from a recycling perspective.
"Gatorade reportedly uses some recycled plastic in
making its bottles. However, more than 80 percent
of Gatorade plastic bottles get thrown away,
because only 2 states require a refundable deposit
on this type of beverage," Sheehan said. "Non-
carbonated drinks, like teas, sports drinks and water,
are the fastest growing portion of the beverage
market, and the fastest growing contributor to
beverage container waste."
###
More information is at www.grrn.org/media
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