California Sues ExxonMobil Over The Myth of its Plastic Recycling Claims

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California has initiated legal action against ExxonMobil, accusing the oil giant of promoting a "decades-long campaign of deception" regarding plastic recycling. The state’s lawsuit, filed in San Francisco, contends that ExxonMobil misled consumers into believing that single-use plastics could be widely recycled, when in reality, most of these products end up polluting the environment.

 

California Attorney General Rob Bonta argues that ExxonMobil has used "slick marketing" to create a false impression about the recyclability of plastics. The lawsuit aims to compel the company, one of the world’s largest producers of the polymers used in plastic manufacturing, to contribute to the cleanup of millions of tons of plastic waste and to educate the public on the environmental damage caused by their products. According to Bonta, the costs associated with these efforts could reach billions of dollars. "Plastic contaminates our drinking water, strangles our wildlife, and blights our landscapes," Bonta said. "Microplastics have been found in our lungs, maternal and placental tissue, breast milk, and blood. What solution does ExxonMobil give us? Plastic, recycling: a farce, a lie, a deceit."

 

The lawsuit further asserts that ExxonMobil has been aware of the environmental impact of plastic since the 1970s but continues to promote plastic recycling as the solution. "Since the 70s, ExxonMobil has known the truth about plastic pollution and recycling, and still publicly promotes the myth that plastic recycling is the answer. ExxonMobil knows that the vast majority of plastic products are not and likely cannot be recycled," Bonta said.

 

This legal battle is part of a larger wave of lawsuits targeting oil and gas companies for their role in the growing environmental crisis. California and over 20 other state and local governments have sought to hold these corporations accountable for worsening pollution and global warming, which is already affecting global weather patterns. Last year, California also sued ExxonMobil and other oil companies, accusing them of deliberately misleading consumers about the environmental damage caused by fossil fuel consumption.

 

California’s Department of Justice maintains that ExxonMobil has known for decades that the majority of plastics created from their products cannot be recycled due to either a lack of technology or economic viability. The lawsuit points out that, through a trade group, ExxonMobil helped popularize the "chasing arrows" recycling symbol, misleading consumers into believing the plastics they purchased would re-enter the production chain rather than end up in landfills. "In reality, only about five percent of US plastic waste is recycled, and the recycling rate has never exceeded nine percent," the lawsuit claims.

 

ExxonMobil has recently promoted so-called "advanced recycling" as a new technology to address plastic waste. However, the lawsuit argues that 92 percent of the plastic treated through these methods is not turned into new plastic products but is instead converted into fuel. Bonta criticized this initiative, stating, "ExxonMobil's biggest greenwashing campaign includes falsely touting 'advanced recycling' as a new technology that will solve the plastic pollution problem. False. It's neither new nor advanced nor recycling."

 

 

Based on a report from: Barrons 2024-09-25