The Public Prosecution Service N.Y He charged this on Wednesday soft drink and snack giant PepsiCo and accused the company of polluting the Buffalo River with their disposable plastic packaging, threatening public healthand for ‘misleading’ the public about their efforts to eliminate them.

According to the charging document it is most of the plastic collected annually on the banks of that riverlocated in the northwest of the state, bottles, caps and snack wrappers lie, which break down into microplastics, and PepsiCo is the predominant brand identified, far ahead of others.

In a 2022 survey by the authority of the types of plastic found at 13 points along the Buffalo River and its Escarpment, More than 2,600 objects with recognizable brands were collected, 73% of which were plastic, of which 17% were produced by PepsiCo (328)compared to 5.7% for McDonald’s (109) or 4.2% for Hershey (80).

When will the New York Christmas tree be lit in 2023: everything we know about this tradition

Prosecutors say the company is responsible for “public harm” to residents of the city of Buffalo and the surrounding area because microplastics have been found in both the drinking water the city draws from Lake Erie, near the estuary, and in fish of both waters.

In addition, it accuses PepsiCo of appearing to make progress in reducing the use of non-recycled or virgin plastic in its packaging and claims it has instead increased this number over the past four years, with an increase of 11% in 2022 alone. a figure that the authority attributes to the company itself.

The arrival of migrants has created a huge new ‘red light district’ of prostitution, says New York mayor

The Public Prosecution Service says it is seeking compensation the company stops and repairs the pollution causedand implement measures to reduce the amount of plastic packaging in the Buffalo River, in addition to enforcing “adequate” warnings on packaging.

“All New Yorkers have a fundamental right to water beautifulBut PepsiCo’s irresponsible packaging and marketing endangers Buffalo’s water supply, environment and public health,” prosecutor Letitia James said in the brief.

PepsiCo, based in New York, along with its subsidiaries Frito-Lay and Frito-Lay North America, are accused. The company did not respond to an email from EFE requesting a response to the lawsuit. (JO)