California sues ExxonMobil for misleading plastic waste claims

October 3rd, 2024

California Attorney General Rob Bonta has sued ExxonMobil for producing misleading public statements and campaigns for over half a century about its commitment to reduce plastic waste.

The lawsuit, filed in the San Francisco County Superior Court, claims that ExxonMobil has deceived Californians through “misleading public statements” and “slick marketing”, falsely promising that recycling would solve the growing plastic waste problem caused by the company.

It alleges that ExxonMobil’s decades-long campaign of deception contributed to and exacerbated the global plastics pollution crisis, which poses a threat to both the environment and the public.

The lawsuit specifically points to ExxonMobil’s marketing claims that all of its plastic products are recyclable, even though the vast majority of them are not – and likely cannot be – recycled.

According to Bonta, this caused consumers to purchase and use more single-use plastic than they otherwise would have due to the company’s misleading public statements and advertising.

ExxonMobil also recently promoted “advanced recycling” as its solution to the plastic waste and pollution crisis, which is a term that refers to various heat or solvent-based technologies that, in theory, can recycle into new plastic products.

Even though ExxonMobil touted its advanced recycling program as a breakthrough in technology that will make plastics sustainable, 92% of plastic waste processed through this technology ends up as primary fuels, not recycled plastic.

Bonta said: “ExxonMobil’s ‘advanced recycling’ 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.”

Despite ExxonMobil’s claims of reducing plastic waste, it is the largest producer of polymers in California, which are used to manufacture single-use plastics that contribute to plastic waste.

This is the latest lawsuit for ExxonMobil as a Connecticut judge recently denied the oil giant's motion to dismiss a lawsuit from Connecticut Attorney General William Tong, which claimed it orchestrated “an ongoing systematic campaign of lies and deception” to conceal the connection between burning fossil fuels and climate change.

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