New York State Attorney General Letitia James is taking legal action against US soft drink giant PepsiCo for endangering the environment and public health due to plastic pollution in a river.
Ms. James accuses PepsiCo, which is headquartered in the state of New York, of harming the public and failing to inform consumers about the health and environmental risks associated with single-use plastic packaging, according to a statement issued on Wednesday.
The lawsuit argues that the company deceived the public about the effectiveness of its plastic recycling efforts and its actions to combat plastic pollution. It adds that PepsiCo’s use of non-recyclable plastic increased over the past four years despite claims to the contrary.
When contacted by French news agency AFP, PepsiCo did not immediately respond.
Among other goals, the attorney general aims to get the company to stop these practices, clean-up affected areas, and provide various financial compensations and penalties for the “harm done to the residents and environment of New York.”
The lawsuits, deemed “historic and pioneering,” are based on litter collected in 2022 along about 15 kilometres of the Buffalo River, which flows in the northern part of the state and empties into Lake Erie, on the border with Canada.
Of the approximately 2,000 identifiable plastic waste items, PepsiCo produced 17% – three times more than the second largest identifiable contributor, the statement indicated.
It added that between 2013 and 2022, around 78% of the waste collected by Buffalo Niagara Waterkeeper was plastic.
