PepsiCo under fire after being named worst contributor to major crisis — here's what you need to know

PepsiCo is on another list of a region's biggest plastic polluters — this time for the Indian Himalayan Region.

What's happening?

The Himalayan Cleanup (THC) 2025 spotlighted the biggest plastic polluters of the Indian Himalayan Region (IHR) during its webinar "The Himalayan Cleanup Speaks: Insights to Action" given on August 8, 2025. The webinar was given in honor of Zero Waste Himalaya Day.

The top 10 polluters included Coca-Cola, PepsiCo, Natural Water Industries, Parle, Hornbill Industries, Vinayaka Industries, Kaisha Industries, ITC, Perfetti Van Melle, and CG Foods. These 10 were concluded to be the top polluters after extensive audits across eight Himalayan states where 217,854 pieces of plastic were gathered from 148 different sites.

A representative from Zero Waste Himalaya, Ms. Priya Shrestha, noted that 93% of the waste collected was plastic. Even worse is that 47% of the plastic is non-recyclable and 93% of all of the plastic collected was from food packaging.

Why is PepsiCo's pollution important?

PepsiCo has an annual revenue of almost $92B a year as it not only owns and produces Pepsi, but also hundreds of other food brands. It is one of the top producers of food in the world and its pollution points to the fact that there are still many challenges with recycling and collection of trash in mountainous areas like the Himalayas.

Previous responses to calls for recycling had been answered by local authorities with suggestions to trash, burn, or "roll it downhill"; this may work for one festival, but it's not a long-term solution for maintaining the health and safety for mountainous communities.

PepsiCo is already one of the top polluters in the world and recently pushed back its goals to achieve net zero greenhouse gas emissions by 2040 to 2050, according to ESG Today. It has also been caught under fire for greenwashing its SmartFood branding, threatening water sources near the Malot and Kandrori villages in India, and for its unrecyclable packaging.

However, PepsiCo has taken steps in a more eco-friendly direction with innovative snack packaging released in the Netherlands and working on building a fleet of electric delivery trucks.

What's being done about PepsiCo's plastic waste?

Representatives from local environmental agencies across the Indian Himalayan Region are calling for more localized action to counter plastic waste overall — from both international brands like PepsiCo and local bottled water brands. Currently, over 80% of plastic water bottles end up in the trash, according to The Water Project.

Agencies are urging a shift from focusing on end-of-life waste management to production changes to stop the problems before it starts, as well as changing dietary habits of the local populations to healthier diet choices.

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