ExxonMobil has been misleading consumers for years by perpetuating a “myth” about plastic recycling, according to a new lawsuit filed by the state of California.
According to the state attorney general’s office, ExxonMobil is the world’s leading producer of single-use plastics that end up as waste. To encourage people to buy products made from single-use plastics, the lawsuit says, ExxonMobil “misled Californians for nearly half a century by promising them that recycling could and would solve the growing plastic waste crisis.”
“They knew clearly that this was not possible.”
Plastic is notoriously hard to reuse, so very little of it is recycled. Promoting recycling as a panacea for plastic waste may actually lead to more of it becoming litter, experts warn. Now, the state of California wants to hold the industry accountable for the plastic pollution that has accumulated in the environment, animals and even people's bodies.
“For decades, ExxonMobil has been misleading the public into believing that plastic recycling could solve the plastic waste and pollution crisis when they clearly knew this was not possible,” California Attorney General Rob Bonta said in a statement. Press release yesterday.
The attorney general’s office has launched an investigation into the petrochemical industry’s role in creating a plastic “pollution crisis” in 2022. It says it uncovered new documents over the past two years that led the state to file a lawsuit this week. The suit alleges ExxonMobil has violated state laws on public nuisance, natural resources, water pollution, false advertising and unfair competition through deceptive marketing about recycling.
The state is suing for civil penalties and restitution of rights, which would force the company to hand over any profits it has illegally made. California also wants to establish an abatement fund and an injunction to stop the company from promoting plastics as recyclable, as it has done for years. The attorney general's office points to a 12-page document advertisement in Time In 1989, The New York Times magazine ran an advertisement about the “urgent need for recycling” as an example of the company’s “campaign of deception.” “Americans have entered an era in which landfills will no longer be the primary method of garbage disposal,” the ad said.
By 2015, Less than 10 percent of plastic waste has ever been recycledNearly 80 percent of the 6.3 billion metric tons of plastic waste generated worldwide ended up in landfills or littering the environment.
Even when plastic is recycled, it is usually “upcycled” because the quality of the material deteriorates with each use. For example, plastic bottles are turned into fibers used in carpets instead of new plastic bottles. And appliances made from recycled plastic usually have to be reinforced with new plastic. Often, it is just a matter of time. cheaper for a company use new plastic instead of recycled materials.
Latest industry complaints about “Advanced” or chemical recycling The attorney general argues that plastics produced using ExxonMobil’s “advanced recycling” technology are similarly flawed, since most of the plastic waste that goes through that process is turned into fuel. The state also claims that plastics produced using ExxonMobil’s “advanced recycling” technology contain such small amounts of waste material that “they are effectively virgin plastics.”
ExxonMobil blamed California in an emailed response to The edge“For decades, California officials have known their recycling system is ineffective. They failed to act and now 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 statement said.
One of the appeals of plastic is that it is lightweight and easy to transport, a characteristic that also makes it easier to disperse in the environment. Once there, it breaks down into tiny particles called microplastics that have flooded the world’s oceans and been found in everything from shellfish to baby poop. According to Bonta’s office, about 21 million pounds of plastic trash have been collected from California beaches and waterways since 1985.
Plastics are made from fossil fuels and are responsible for 4.5 percent of global greenhouse gas emissions — more than climate pollution Global Shipping.
“While whitewashing is not new, the fossil fuel industry in particular has frequently downplayed the impacts their sector has on climate change,” Leehi Yona, a climate and environmental law specialist at Cornell University, said in an emailed statement. “In my view, this latest lawsuit builds on sustained efforts by many governments to hold fossil fuel companies accountable for the myriad ways they have acted.” cheated “the public about the risks of their products.”
