On Monday, California Attorney General Rob Bonta filed a lawsuit against ExxonMobil, accusing the oil conglomerate of spewing decades-long deceptions about plastic recycling. As reported by Inside Climate News, Bonta is aiming to hold the company accountable for its significant contribution to the "deluge of plastic pollution" that has wreaked havoc on the state's environment and misled the public into believing in a flawed solution to plastic waste.
While ExxonMobil defends its recycling efforts and the efficacy of its advanced recycling technologies, the California lawsuit, which cites a breadth of sources including internal company documents, claims that these efforts are largely ineffective. According to the Houston Chronicle, the Baytown facility, where ExxonMobil showcased its plastic recycling prowess, has only managed to recycle 8% of plastics effectively, with the remaining majority combusted as fuel, rather than being repurposed into new materials.
The daunting numbers presented in the lawsuit show the magnitude of the plastic waste problem, with the United Nations estimating annual global production at roughly 882 billion pounds. Bonta's aggressive legal approach seeks to compel ExxonMobil to pay billions for damages and to prohibit the oil company from using terms like "advanced recycling" or "certified circular polymers" to describe its products, labeling it a "PR stunt," as noted in the Inside Climate News report.
The lawsuit comes as California intensifies its crackdown on plastic pollution. The legal argument draws parallels to cases against the tobacco and opioid industries over public health, making it a potential trendsetter for how states challenge major polluters. "This is the single most consequential lawsuit filed against the plastics industry for its persistent and continued lying about plastics recycling," Judith Enck, president of the group Beyond Plastics, told Inside Climate News.
Counter to the lawsuit's points, ExxonMobil argues that inefficiencies in California's recycling system are not the fault of the company but rather a failure of state officials to address the issue. “They failed to act, and now they seek to blame others. Instead of suing us, they could have worked with us to fix the problem and keep plastic out of landfills. The first step would be to acknowledge what their counterparts across the U.S. know: advanced recycling works. To date, we’ve processed more than 60 million pounds of plastic waste into usable raw materials, keeping it out of landfills," a company spokesperson said, according to Inside Climate News. Meanwhile, the American Chemistry Council, while not a direct defendant in the case, was mentioned in the lawsuit for allegedly disseminating deceptive messages about advanced recycling, in league with ExxonMobil.
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