Dear Sunita, This is in reply to a General letter circulated by Corporate Accountability Group in the US and signed by me. May like to go through this and do whatever you think fit.
Dr.V.N.Sharma Ranchi ---------- Forwarded message ---------- From: <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Date: Sat, Jun 21, 2008 at 6:11 AM Subject: A Message from PepsiCo To: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Thank you for writing our senior management at PepsiCo. We appreciate the opportunity to respond about our business practices regarding water. We could not agree with you more that PepsiCo has an obligation to be a responsible user of water, and to help ensure that the communities where we operate and live are not negatively impacted by our water use. This letter covers three areas: 1. How we source water to ensure respect for the environment and the community. 2. How we assure the quality of the water we use and our products. 3. Our involvement with the community on water projects and issues. Each of these areas is of paramount importance to us since they touch on the integrity of our products and our business. 1. How we source water: Across PepsiCo, we have a variety of standardized processes and procedures to assure the safety of our consumers, integrity of our products, and the respect for the environment and community around us. For new sites, each of our businesses applies the elements of an environmental site assessment, similar to the EPA/ASTM Standard for Phase One Environmental Site Assessment. With specific regard to water sources, we utilize a mixture of municipal supplies, which may be from surface or groundwater sources, and private wells. In the United States, virtually all of our plants, with few exceptions, draw water from municipal supplies. As a result, the selection and management of these municipal sources fall under the jurisdiction of the United States Environmental Protection Agency (USEPA) and any applicable corresponding State Authority. These sources must comply with the EPA National Primary Drinking Water Regulations and any other applicable regulations and practices related to water resource selection and development (for example site selection, well construction, drought management plans, and many other elements). 2. Water Quality: One of the legal requirements in the United States expected of municipal drinking water facilities is the provision of Consumer Confidence Reports (CCR), which detail the water quality being provided to the consumer as it compares to compliance with EPA quality requirements. Our facilities in the United States are, in essence, consumers of this municipal drinking water just as are residential customers of the same supplies. As such, the quality data for the water that is purchased is available from the municipal water purveyors, whether the purchaser is PepsiCo, one of our franchise partners, or a home consumer. Similarly outside the United States, many of our plants are supplied by water from municipal sources, and the same approach would apply—the governing national and local regulations for water resources and water quality would, and do, apply. In areas of the world where we develop our own water sources (for example, abstraction from commercial wells) we do so in full compliance with applicable regulations which often limit what can be done with a particular resource. In these cases, we work with the local authorities to assure that the quantity of water needed to keep our business running, and to thereby help support the local community and economy is consistent with regulations and safe for the natural resource. Where we develop our own wells to supply water from groundwater sources, every source is tested by an approved, external laboratory which is capable of reporting drinking water testing results. The test protocol is based on the most current revision of the World Health Organization (WHO) Guidelines for Drinking Water Quality, and also includes testing required by local authorities as well. At every plant, the incoming water is then further purified, using a variety of treatments depending on the raw water characterization, to meet the high standards of quality to be used in our products—whether these products are bottled water, carbonated beverages, or non-carbonated drinks. In addition to source qualifications our plants monitor the raw, in-process, and treated water. We have also established internal laboratories in the United States and Europe which routinely monitor raw, treated, and bottled water quality worldwide. 3. Community engagement: At PepsiCo, the principles of Sustainable Development have become an overarching framework for how we conduct our business. One of the critical components of this is the "community element" of sustainability, and PepsiCo has been involved in positive community engagement for decades. Two major recent examples of this, particularly as they relate to water and the environment, are our partnerships with the Chinese Women's Development Federation (CWDF) as part of their China Mother Water Cellars Project, and The Energy & Resources Institute (TERI), a leading environmental NGO in India. In China, we have partnered with CWDF to continue their mission of making water available to the most terribly water scarce regions of China. The CWDF has touched approximately 1,000,000 people over the last five years, through their 90,000 cellars and 1200 wells constructed. The Sustainability video appearing on our website (http://www.pepsico.com) includes a segment on the Mother Water Cellars Project. With TERI, we are happy to be included in a multi-year partnership to take a holistic approach to sustainability in two very diverse villages. The areas for our community engagement are many, and include: Rooftop rainwater harvesting systems Augmentation of existing water systems Sanitation and hygiene promotion —combination of public education, toilet installation, waste management systems, and adequate drainage. In addition we have initiatives in health and education, forestry, agriculture and enterprise development. We have many initiatives throughout our company to reduce, reuse and recycle water. For example, in the video we highlighted Gatorade's move to waterless rinsing. A recent initiative is our program to increase distribution of Ethos Water to help reach the goal of contributing at least $10 million by the end of 2010 to help children and their communities around the world get clean drinking water. Ethos Water will donate $0.05 for every bottle sold. We hope we have addressed some of the issues you raised. Our 2006 annual report will soon be out and I hope you will read it. The title is "Performance with Purpose" and it begins with the statement: "Performance – achieving financial results – matters most when it is combined with Purpose – improving people's lives." In the area of water, we have a lot to offer and we are working to be part of the solution—not the problem. Again, many thanks for allowing us this chance to address your concerns – we know they were shared in good conscience and we truly appreciate the opportunity to respond in kind. Sincerely, Elaine Palmer Director of External Affairs PepsiCo -- Dr.V.N.Sharma http://canvas.nowpos.com/vnsharma
