Water Initiatives

PepsiCo respects the right of all human beings to water and is committed to minimize the impact of its business on the environment.

Positive water balance

In 2009, the company achieved a significant milestone: Positive Water Balance. Through various initiatives of recharging and replenishing water, it was able to give back to the community more water than it consumed in its manufacturing processes. In 2010, PepsiCo has further increased the amount of water saved and is now water positive by 4.3 billion liter, a fact verified by Deloitte Touche’ Tohmatsu India Pvt Ltd.

Increasing credit

Recharging Water Through Community Initiatives

As sustainability is an important outcome, community ownership is at the heart of PepsiCo’s CSR approach. It works with the local Panchayat or municipality and engages with the community in planning as well as executing the project.

• PepsiCo uses integrated water management techniques, inclusive approach and introduction of sustainable agricultural practices such as drip-irrigation, education programs on water conservation and better agronomic practices.
• The initiatives result in an enhanced ground water table, improved water access and improved farm yields and incomes.
• PepsiCo has also initiated several projects to provide water to villagers who earlier had to walk long distances to collect water.
• In 2010, water projects created the potential to recharge over 2 billion liters of water contributing towards positive water balance and benefitting nearly 41,000 community members. Community participation has played a key role in the success of this initiative.

In-Plant Water Recharge and Harvesting

PepsiCo employs rainwater harvesting initiatives within its manufacturing locations, such as roof-water harvesting and recharge ponds. At some plant locations, it harvests and collects rainwater in excavated ponds while at other plants it uses roof-water harvesting to recharge water.

Water Conservation Through Irrigation Efficiency

PepsiCo has globally made a promise to its stakeholders of protecting natural resources, particularly water, by driving world-class efficiencies in water usage in its operations, preserving water resources and enabling access to safe water.

Direct seeding— PepsiCo India is leading a pioneering initiative to replace transplanting of paddy with direct seeding technology, which has helped reduce water consumption in paddy cultivation by 30 percent and has also cut down green house gas emissions by 75 percent. The results have been vetted by leading research institutes like the Indian Agriculture Research Institute (IARI) and the International Rice Research Institute (IRRI).

In 2010, PepsiCo India brought 10,000 acre of land under direct seeding and saved 7836 mml of water, in six states, namely Punjab, Rajasthan, UP, Haryana, Tamil Nadu and Karnataka.

Drip irrigation— PepsiCo is helping farmers in water-scarce areas in Maharashtra, Gujarat, Karnataka and Haryana and promoting drip irrigation in over 1100 acres. It is estimated that every acre saves approximately 700 kiloliter of water. In 2010, drip irrigation saved 144 mml of water. PepsiCo’s initiatives include:

• Helping raise money for the assets through banks
• Incentivizing the farmers for the adoption of drip irrigation through a buy-back mechanism
• Providing help to design agricultural equipment to make drip irrigation commercially viable for farmers.

Reducing debit

Decreasing In-plant Consumption of Water

PepsiCo India plants have been able to reduce water use in the manufacturing process through:

• Innovative reuse and recycling initiatives in the manufacturing process
• Installation of water recovery equipment to reduce water consumption
• Reduction in plant water consumption

PepsiCo India has adopted processes to treat processed water before returning it to non-potable water uses. For cooling towers, watering gardens and flushes, water is being reused and plants are moving towards becoming a zero-discharge facility.

In order to reduce water stress, PepsiCo’s rain or roof water harvesting methods have become standard practice at all its plants. Jainpur, Bazpur, Bharuch, Palakkad, Panipat, Neelamangala, Mamandur and Mahul plants harvest and collect rain water in excavated lakes and ponds.