PepsiCo has announced that its beverages, including Gatorade and Pepsi, manufactured at its facilities in the US, will soon be made using electricity from renewable sources, such as wind and solar.

The beverage and food maker said that it aims to achieve 100% renewable electricity for all its direct operations in the US this year.

PepsiCo chairman and CEO Ramon Laguarta said: “We have entered a decade that will be critical for the future of our planet’s health.

“PepsiCo is pursuing 100% renewable electricity in the US because the severe threat that climate change poses to the world demands faster and bolder action from all of us.”

Electricity consumed by PepsiCo’s US facilities is said to account for nearly half of its total global electricity consumption.

The initiative is part of the company’s efforts to use only renewable energy at its facilities across the world.

Currently, PepsiCo’s facilities across nine European countries source electricity generated by renewable energy sources.

In 2018, PepsiCo Mexico Foods business reportedly used 76% of electricity generated by renewable energy sources.

Through this move, the company hope to achieve a 20% reduction in greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions from its facilities in the US.

PepsiCo chief sustainability officer Simon Lowden said: “As an industry leader, we have a responsibility to help spur the use of renewable energy in the US while encouraging the kind of systemic change that can build a more sustainable food system. This is another step forward in that journey.”

Additionally, the company is expanding its onsite renewable electricity generation capacity by installing new solar panels at its global headquarters in Purchase, New York, as well as at its beverage facilities in Fresno, California and Tolleson, Arizona.