GrassRoots Recycling Network

Container Recycling Institute

Waste Not Georgia

IMMEDIATE RELEASE May 2, 2001

Contact: Lance King - (703) 536-7282 or Bill Sheehan - (706) 613-7121

DALLAS, TX (May 2, 2001) -- Investors holding 83.3 million shares of PepsiCo, Inc. (Ticker: PEP), worth 3.7 billion dollars, voted to support a shareholder resolution on recycling at the company's annual meeting today in Plano, Texas.

"Investor sponsors of the PepsiCo shareholder recycling proposal called the 8.1 percent 'yes' vote today an excellent result," said Lance King, spokesman for the environmental groups supporting the shareholder recycling proposal.

"PepsiCo's board and management graciously listened to all our speakers. Hopefully the company will take the strong shareholder message to heart and begin to examine ways to improve its recycling practices by setting specific goals," Bill Sheehan, network coordinator for the GrassRoots Recycling Network, said.

Supporters of the recycling resolution secured enough support to bring the proposal back again next year, according to U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission rules governing shareholder proposals.

Kenneth Scott, representing Walden Asset Management and Domini Social Investments, co-sponsors of the shareholder resolution, made the presentation in support of the shareholder recycling proposal (Item Number 6). The non-binding proposal calls for PepsiCo, Inc. to achieve two specific recycling goals by January 1, 2005:

· Make plastic bottles with 25 percent recycled plastic; and
· Take steps to achieve an 80 percent recycling rate for Coke bottles and cans.

Environmental leaders speaking in support of the proposal included: Pat Franklin of the
Container Recycling Institute; Bill Sheehan for the GrassRoots Recycling Network; Bob Woodall of Waste Not Georgia; and, Molly Rooke, a Dallas-based leader in the local Sierra Club.

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"Recycling rates dropped dramatically in recent years, largely due to the proliferation of throwaway beverage packaging. Plastic bottles are the fastest growing type of bottle and can waste. Three out of four plastic soda, juice, water and sports drink bottles go to landfills or incinerators," said Pat Franklin, executive director of the nonprofit Container Recycling Institute, based in Arlington, Virginia.

"The key to eliminating waste and increasing recycling is creating an effective financial incentive, which is why states with refundable deposits on beverages average an 80 percent recycling rate," Franklin said.

Sheehan presented a letter in support of the shareholder resolution on recycling,
addressed to the PepsiCo Board of Directors, and signed by 98 public officials, businesses, environmental organizations, student and community leaders.

Bob Woodall, executive director of Waste Not Georgia, said after the vote: "Litter is a
key issue for many people across Georgia and the nation. States with deposit laws are much cleaner than states without."

Molly Rooke, a leader in the Dallas area Sierra Club, told PepsiCo leadership: "Stop messing with Texas. Pepsi is lagging behind the industry leader, Coca-Cola, and needs to become a leader in recycling. Stop spending money lobbying against bottle bills."

Institutional investors co-sponsoring the shareholder recycling resolution called upon PepsiCo to stop opposing bottle bills or come up with another method to achieve the 80 percent recycling rate, which is the current average in states with refundable deposits.

"The vote today assures shareholders that recycling will stay on the agenda in discussions between investors and top management at PepsiCo. The resolution can be brought back again next year," King said.

"Coca-Cola CEO Doug Daft announced on April 18 that his company is working to use 10 percent recycled plastic in making new bottles by 2005. While it less than what Coke does in other nations, it puts them far ahead of Pepsi. Daft also said Coke will work with a multi-stakeholder group, called BEAR, exploring means to increase recycling," Sheehan noted.

"Perhaps PepsiCo will join the multi-stakeholder group, comprised of businesses and environmentalists seeking to roughly double the national recycling rate," said Sheehan.

For more information on the shareholder campaign, visit the Internet at:
www.grrn.org/media

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