The California attorney general’s office filed a lawsuit against Exxon Mobil Corp., claiming the company has misled the public about the benefits of its plastics recycling efforts.
The lawsuit, filed in San Francisco County Superior Court Sept. 23, alleges that Exxon Mobil has made deceptive claims about its advanced recycling program by suggesting most or all plastic waste it processes becomes new plastic. Instead, the lawsuit states that a small portion of the plastic waste input actually becomes new plastic and instead is converted into fuels.
The filing highlights a claim by Exxon Mobil that its “process is efficient, converting about 90% of the plastic waste into raw materials.” The claims have encouraged unaware customers to purchase more single-use plastics than they would have consumed if they had known otherwise, according to a news release from California Attorney General Rob Bonta’s office.
The lawsuit also states that Exxon Mobil’s recycling process can’t handle large amounts of post-consumer plastic waste, such as potato chip bags, without risking the safety and performance of its equipment.
Bonta’s office characterized the company’s public relations efforts as a “slick marketing” campaign that promised recycling would address the company’s plastics-waste problem.
The state is seeking civil penalties, and abatement funds in addition to Exxon Mobil ending its alleged deceptive practices.
“Plastics are everywhere, from the deepest parts of our oceans, the highest peaks on earth, and even in our bodies, causing irreversible damage—in ways known and unknown—to our environment and potentially our health,” said Bonta said in a news release. “For decades, Exxon Mobil 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. Exxon Mobil lied to further its record-breaking profits at the expense of our planet and possibly jeopardizing our health.”
Exxon Mobil spokeswoman Lauren Kight told the Wall Street Journal that officials in California are blaming others for their ineffective recycling program.
“Instead of suing us, they could have worked with us to fix the problem and keep plastic out of landfills,” she told the Journal. “The first step would be to acknowledge what their counterparts across the U.S. know: advanced recycling works.”
The American Chemistry Council (ACC) issued a statement following the filing saying the legal action has diverted time away from the industry's efforts to advance plastics recycling.
"Regardless, we remain steadfast in our mission to advocate for effective policy, collaborate with communities, and invest in new technologies that help to increase plastics recycling and recycled plastic use in products, contributing to a more sustainable future," ACC stated.
The lawsuit follows an investigation launched in 2022 into fossil fuel and petrochemical industries for their role in causing the global plastics waste and pollution crisis.
