FPL has a long-term supply contract with Pepsi. Recently, Pepsi has invested a further Rs 25 crore to augment capacity by 7000 tpa to 28000 tpa, taking its equity in the project from 52 percent to 70 percent. This plant imports used PET bottles and materials from US and other countries to reprocess it. The economic logic behind export of this plastic waste is very simple. For Pepsi, it is much cheaper to export this waste from US to India than to recycle it in US or transport it to US landfill sites.
Plastic production is a very hazardous process.
Various studies by experts have found out that the production of a 16 ounce PET container generates over 100 times more toxic emissions than a glass bottle of the same size. With the setting up of FPL, Pepsi has managed to relocate the hazards involved in production and disposal of PET bottles from US to India. Based on US Customs Department data, Greenpeace analysts found that Pepsi exported 9,167,722 pounds or about 4,500 tons of 'Plastic Scrap' in 23 shipments during 1993 to this plant. The FPL representatives have also admitted that they have been importing plastic waste. The FPL representatives told Greenpeace researchers that a portion of the imported plastic waste cannot be processed at their site.