A PepsiCo associate innovating water-saving techniques

Outside of Manpreet Singh Nayyar’s home in Chandigarh, India, a lush garden flourishes. He’s cultivated rows of palm plants, aloe vera and money plants. To keep the greenery thriving, his mindset is to make as minimal impact on the Earth’s resources as possible, so he harvests rainwater. “Water is a very precious resource because it's a part of our livelihood,” Manpreet says.

And his efforts go beyond his garden fence. As a Sustainability Manager, Manpreet leads water conservation initiatives for PepsiCo in Gurugram, India. He focuses on engineering and implementing water-saving technologies in PepsiCo facilities. “We work on a methodology of the three 'R’s’ which is: Reduce, reuse and recycle,” Manpreet says.

All of this work supports the company’s pep+ (PepsiCo Positive) goal to be Net Water Positive by 2030, which includes reducing water use, improving efficiency and replenishing more water than the company uses. This is a key part of PepsiCo’s efforts to create a more Positive Value Chain by making, moving and selling foods and beverages in a more equitable and sustainable way.

By implementing innovative water recycling technologies, Manpreet and his team have reduced water usage by 70 percent at the Channo facility since 2016. “This is huge in terms of saving our environment and saving our watershed in this area,” Manpreet says.

Water savings such as these are urgently needed in India. According to the National Institution for Transforming India, the country accounts for roughly 17 percent of the world’s population but just four percent of the world’s freshwater resources — making it one of the most water-stressed countries. To address this in the nearby community, the team is creating rainwater harvesting ponds and collecting water from villages, which is treated and being reused locally.

Manpreet is not only working to save water but also minimizing the carbon footprint at several facilities. Achieving net-zero emissions by 2040 is another ambition mapped out under PepsiCo’s Positive Value Chain umbrella of goals in the company’s pep+ agenda. And switching operations to more sustainable power sources is one of the ways PepsiCo is working toward those goals. He’s overseen the addition of biomass boilers (a system that uses organic materials to generate heat) as well as added solar panels and biogas fuel at several sites in India.

These water and energy projects have already transformed the communities where local PepsiCo associates live and work. He’s seen former landfills be converted into parks with scenic picnic spots. Being a part of changes for the better in his community is what motivates him to accomplish even more with PepsiCo’s Positive Value Chain goals. “In this field, you can give back to society and see the results,” Manpreet says. “You can work towards protecting the environment.”