California Sues ExxonMobil for “Campaign of Deception” about Plastic Recycling
Lawsuit alleges that the company misled the public about the recyclability of plastic and the environmental consequences of plastic production.
California is suing ExxonMobil, alleging that the company led a “campaign of deception” against state and local governments “that caused and exacerbated the global plastics pollution crisis.” The California Department of Justice, in a statement, alleged that ExxonMobil has been deceiving the public for “half a century through misleading public statements and slick marketing promising that recycling would address the ever-increasing amount of plastic waste ExxonMobil produces.”
The civil case, filed in California Superior Court in San Francisco, is the first of its kind in suing the world’s largest producer of polymers used to make single-use plastics. The government seeks to compel ExxonMobil to “cease and desist any and all deceptive public statements related to its plastic operations,” create an abatement fund, impose disgorgement, and impose civil penalties for the “environmental harms” of plastics pollution.
Attorney General Rob Bond stated that “[f]or decades, ExxonMobil has been deceiving the public to convince us that plastic recycling could solve the plastic waste and pollution crisis when they clearly knew this wasn’t possible. ExxonMobil lied to further its record-breaking profits at the expense of our planet and possibly jeopardizing our health.”
The Department of Justice accuses the company of promoting recycling as a way of defending its plastics as far back as the 1970s. ExxonMobil continues to deceive the public, the Department alleges, through the promotion of its “advanced recycling” program.
The Department of Justice describes “advanced recycling” as a “variety of heat or solvent-based technologies that can theoretically convert certain types of plastic waste into petrochemical feedstock, which can be used to make new plastic.” It states that the program is “nothing more than a public relations stunt meant to encourage the public to keep purchasing single-use plastics that are fueling the plastics pollution crisis.”
In a prior first-of-its-kind lawsuit, California sued oil majors, along with ExxonMobil, in September 2023 for “climate deception” and environmental damage.