PepsiCo and Tetra Pak join The Circulate Initiative with the aim of improving working conditions of informal waste workers in India

The unique collaboration will see the two companies come together as part of the Responsible Sourcing Initiative, working with leading Indian recycling company, Deluxe Recycling.

BANGALORE, July, 2025 – The Circulate Initiative, a non-profit organization dedicated to solving the ocean plastic pollution challenge in emerging markets, announced today that PepsiCo, Inc. and Tetra Pak will join its Responsible Sourcing Initiative as official brand partners for one of its projects in India.

The project will see the two companies come together to work with leading Indian recycling company Deluxe Recycling (Deluxe) in an effort to improve the working conditions of informal waste workers in India and tackle multi-layer plastics and Used Beverage Cartons waste streams.  Deluxe has been at the forefront of innovating new technologies to recycle packaging, having recently opened India's largest multi-layered plastic recycling facility in Gujarat. This project also marks an expansion into recycling value chains beyond plastics, specifically used beverage cartons. 

Globally, there are approximately 40 million informal waste workers¹ who are at the frontlines of recycling, particularly in emerging economies where waste management infrastructure is lacking. Despite their contributions, they face persistent marginalization, unsafe and hazardous environments and low wages. The Responsible Sourcing Initiative is a global program that brings together brands, investors, recyclers, and waste worker organizations to help address pressing human rights issues in plastic, used beverage cartons and other recycling value chains.

At an event in Bangalore in April, project partners and other value chain representatives discussed early assessment findings to co-develop targeted interventions to help strengthen due diligence across Deluxe’s value chain. The assessment highlighted that many informal waste workers rely on long-standing relationships with suppliers, which have led to informal forms of social support and ways to raise grievances. However, certain challenges remain with respect to fair working conditions for informal waste workers, such as low income and limited access to social security and financial services. The assessment also found that small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) have little awareness of responsible sourcing practices, and that there are gaps in workplace health and safety, particularly in access to sanitation, first aid, and regular use of protective gear.

PepsiCo and Tetra Pak will work with The Circulate Initiative to support potential solutions within Deluxe’s value chain to address these challenges. The efforts will be aligned with the Harmonized Responsible Sourcing Framework for Recycled Plastics (Harmonized Framework), a scalable and actionable approach to implement responsible sourcing practices in recycling value chains. The implementation project is further supported by First Mile and the Alliance of Indian Waste Pickers (AIW), represented by SWaCH.

“The unique collaboration between PepsiCo and Tetra Pak is a huge step forward as we continue towards our goal to set the standard for responsible sourcing globally.” Annerieke Douma, Senior Director of Programs of The Circulate Initiative, commented. “Their contributions will be critical in helping shape and scale solutions in India designed to create positive impacts in the recycling supply chain, particularly when tackling complex multi-layer plastics and used beverage cartons, and taking those lessons to other emerging markets.”

Jignesh Shah, Owner of Deluxe Recycling said, “Our collaboration with The Circulate Initiative and PepsiCo and Tetra Pak will support us to expand efforts to help improve the livelihoods of waste pickers. By working together, we aim to strengthen our ecosystem of waste collection, demonstrate the potential of innovative recycling technologies, and contribute to building a more sustainable circular economy."

David Allen, VP, Global Sustainable Packaging at PepsiCo said, “PepsiCo recognizes that waste pickers are essential to waste management systems in India, and in many parts of the world. We aim to help support them and foster a more circular economy for our packaging. We are proud to be implementing partners for The Circulate Initiative’s Responsible Sourcing Initiative in an effort to help accelerate the implementation of responsible sourcing practices across the plastics recycling value chain.”

Lisa Ryden, VP of Social Sustainability at Tetra Pak said, “At Tetra Pak, we are committed to protecting food, people, and the planet. Helping to improve the working and living conditions of waste pickers, some of the most marginalized workers in global value chains, is central to our commitment to the UN Guiding Principles (UNGPs) on Business and Human Rights. By supporting this initiative in India, we are advancing human rights due diligence in collection value chains of used beverage cartons, placing waste pickers at the heart of a more equitable recycling ecosystem and piloting The Circulate Initiative’s Harmonized Framework in materials beyond plastic.”

India is one of four implementation markets for the Responsible Sourcing Initiative, alongside Indonesia, Kenya, and Vietnam. With insights from these projects, The Circulate Initiative will refine the Harmonized Framework and scale its adoption globally, with the goal of improving the livelihoods of over 50,000 waste workers and responsibly sourcing over 100,000 tons of plastic waste by 2026.

¹ Ed Cook, Nathalia Silva de Souza Lima Cano, and Costas A. Velis, Informal recycling sector contribution to plastic pollution mitigation: A systematic scoping review and quantitative analysis of prevalence and productivity, Resources, Conservation and Recycling, vol. 206 (2024), article no. 107588 https://doi.org/10.1016/j.resconrec.2024.107588 [accessed 5 June 2025].