The company’s packaging was found to be the most significant contributor to plastic waste clogging the Buffalo River.
Plastic trash produced by the company PepsiCo has become a “persistent and dangerous form of plastic pollution” for residents of the Buffalo River watershed in upstate New York, according to a new lawsuit filed Wednesday.
The suit, brought by New York Attorney General Letitia James, is one of the first legal challenges from a state against a major plastic producer. It draws on a 2022 investigation from James’ office in which PepsiCo-branded plastic packaging was found to be by far the most significant contributor to plastic waste clogging the Buffalo River and its tributaries. Out of nearly 2,000 pieces of plastic trash collected at 13 sites along the waterways, PepsiCo products — which include brands like Aquafina, Cheetos, Gatorade, and Lay’s — accounted for more than 17 percent of those with identifiable branding.
All that plastic litter is breaking down into tiny fragments — microplastics — that are winding up in Buffalo’s water supply and the fish that people eat. Some of the chemicals contained in microplastics are carcinogenic, and researchers have raised concerns that the particles could cause reproductive dysfunction and other maladies.
“PepsiCo’s irresponsible packaging and marketing endanger Buffalo’s water supply, environment, and public health,” James said in a statement.
Good,
the idea that we can abolish liability of companies by blaming the individual is insane. There will always be people who will be willing to litter, the companies know that, and chose to not act accordingly.
You’re not wrong, but I fantasize about a space laser that targets litterers and people that don’t pick up after their dogs.
Why not target those who make the decisions to use and proliferate the packaging that is the root of the problem? Most things that are recyclable and put into appropriate bins still aren’t recycled.
They can get it too
So the lasers should target conservatives, is what you’re saying?
And people that don’t use their turn signals!
Or who decelerate when merging!
I’ve missed a few dog doo doos from either talking to someone or if they poo further away and it’s magic poop. I get to the spot I SAW them poop at, and it’s fucking gone.
To be fair, I pick up other poops to fill the gap.
accounted for more than 17 percent of those with identifiable branding.
The Pepsi execs’ biggest takeaway is going to be that their branding dye/paint is too durable.
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Not she why you got downvoted, pepsico and anyone else would do exactly this.
They would pass the extra cost onto you and then have you direct your anger towards “inflation”, “the economy” or whatever governmental head is in charge of your country
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Some people don’t know how much better Snapple used to taste.
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I’m all about glass. Recyclable, turns into sand eventually, all that. But we gonna burn more fuel to move all that extra mass around?
Love states that charge extra for containers and provide a refund. You won’t find shit laying around when people get $.10 for picking it up. Total no brainer.
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Out national Coca Cola alternative (more herbal taste, and is made locally) started producing glass bottles again last year, and they sell them in these cute 6-pack half-beer crates that you can connect and they are compatible with existing beer crates.
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Finally. Fine the fuckers till the fuckers ain’t fine.
I’ve notices recently disposable vapes. Why does this even exists? No one asked for it, no one needs it. In EU the law says that the manufacturer is responsible for recycling this shit but obviously most single use vapes with their lithium battery will simply end up on the landfill. Again, it’s just some capitalist asshole ignoring the environmental impact of their product for profit and shifting the responsibility on the consumer. This shit has to end but as of today even EU doesn’t care and allows this. It’s infuriating.
They should just create a bottle exchange like they do with glass bottles and aluminum cans. Charge the same 5 cents, and people will go out of their way to collect bottles to return for that 5 cents. Most people won’t even notice the bump in price, and their habits won’t change. But there’s always others looking to make money, and this opens a new avenue to keeping more plastic out of the environment.
Those bottles already have that deposit on them in New York State. I regularly see tons of people going around Buffalo picking up bottles and cans to take back to redemption centers for the deposit. All that plastic in the river is happening in spite of that 5 cent redemption.
Now this part is just an anecdote but the people I personally see most often chucking their bottles on the ground are Canadians tossing them out their car windows. Which makes sense since you can’t take them back across the border with you and still get the deposit back. They’d have to do it before heading back to Canada.
All that plastic in the river is happening in spite of that 5 cent redemption.
Sounds like they should adjust it for inflation: apparently the first bottle deposit started in 1971, so the correct price for the deposit in 2023 should be closer to 38¢. (Or maybe even more: Michigan’s bottle deposit has been 10¢ since 1976, so the inflation-adjusted price there would be 54¢).
The worst in my area is plastic water bottles. Although that might be because we tax non diet soda so not as many drink that.
Pepsico sells water in plastic bottles too, as Aquafina and LIFEWTR (and possibly others) so that is also something they are culpable for.
Not sure how this is Pepsi’s problem. It’s their CUSTOMERS doing the littering, not Pepsi.
Maybe New York should do what Oregon has been doing since the 1970s, $0.10 deposit on cans and bottles, redeemable when you return the container for recycling.
