Snack maker Frito- Lay cleans up its act

Scussel took to collecting littered chip bags himself after his repeated requests for the company to take action went unanswered. But in the wake of a Daily Journal report earlier this month, Scussel said Frito-Lay finally started to clean up its act.

“It’s the cleanest it’s ever been since I started working here,” said Scussel, who began working at the auto body company next door nearly five years ago. He added a colleague who has worked there for more than a decade made a similar claim.

Scussel also reported the mess to city officials, who inspected the area and issued a mandate that Frito-Lay act immediately to clean up the site or face the threat of potential fines.

Following crews spending hours snagging spare chip bags from the surrounding open space area behind the distribution plant and fishing them out of the drainage channel, Scussel said a city inspector was present to gauge the effort.

In a prepared statement, Frito-Lay officials said the company is committed to preserving a clean environment.

“The site successfully passed a full site inspection from the city of Brisbane this week, and is implementing preventative measures to keep future issues like this from occurring. Frito-Lay will continue to perform routine inspections to ensure the methods in place are effective in addressing conditions around the site, its neighboring property and the surrounding terrain,” according to the statement.

City officials have said they will continue monitoring the area to assure it remains clean as well.

For his part, Scussel said he is still yet to be contacted by the company, though he has received congratulations from many community members and organizations for his commitment.

“It’s great how excited people are about it,” said Scussel.

Prior to Frito-Lay’s action, Scussel collected roughly four garbage bags full of chip trash which had floated from the distribution facility over the fence onto his company’s property and surrounding area. Some of the trash was caught in a drainage channel which filled with water after the recent rain storm and flowed toward the Bay.

As a sort of symbolic gesture marking the culmination of his effort, Scussel said he recently handed over the fence the bags he had stored to a Frito-Lay employee who happily promised to dispose of them.

He said the entire process was a reminder of the difference one person can make when they put their mind to taking action against a corporation or other large entity behaving inappropriately. And ideally, Scussel said his work could encourage others to exercise their authority to stand up and say something when they witness misbehavior or an injustice.

“If I can inspire anybody to take action, then that’s fantastic,” he said.

But Scussel, who started taking issue with the trash when he noticed it scattered during his lunch break, said he plans to remain vigilant and assure the company stays true to its word.

“I will still be eating my lunches outside and I will keep an eye on it,” he said.

austin@smdailyjournal.com

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