California announced Monday that it is suing oil giant ExxonMobil over its role in plastic pollution, accusing it of running decades of “misleading” campaigns about recycling, which is far from widespread.
Rob Bonta, the attorney general of this western US state, is seeking to obtain “billions of dollars” from the oil major to implement “solutions” to deal with the pollution of water and soil by plastics released into the environment, but also to “re-educate” the population, he declared during a press conference.
“Our coast, our oceans, our rivers and our bays are full of plastic, a pollution that costs authorities and taxpayers more than a billion dollars each year (…). Meanwhile, last year alone, ExxonMobil made $36 billion in profits,” he recalled.
“Plastics are everywhere, at the bottom of our oceans, on the highest peaks and in our bodies, causing irreparable damage – known or unknown to this day – to the environment and our health,” the attorney general added in a statement.
“For decades, ExxonMobil has been misleading the public by trying to convince us that recycling plastic could solve both the problem of plastic waste and pollution, when the company knows full well that this is impossible,” he added.
AFP
“California’s leaders have known for decades that their recycling system is ineffective. They have failed to act and are now seeking to shift the blame to others,” ExxonMobil told AFP.
Lawsuits against major oil companies, but also more generally against companies accused of greenwashing, are multiplying around the world and in the United States to hold them accountable, as global warming is mainly due to the accumulation of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere, essentially linked to the combustion of fossil fuels (coal, oil, gas) by humanity.
“Real solutions”
“Only 5% of plastic waste is recycled in the United States, and that rate has never exceeded 9%,” the attorney general’s statement said.
However, ExxonMobil allegedly promoted the pictogram identifying a product as recyclable to make consumers believe that their plastic waste would be recycled, when the technologies to do so do not exist or are not profitable enough to be implemented, it is specified.
Even recently, according to the complaint, the oil giant began promoting the term “advanced recycling,” used to describe a chemical process that involves melting plastic to recreate various petrochemicals, including plastic. While 92% of the plastic processed in this way ends up as fuel, according to the complaint.
The attorney general on Monday called the argument “the biggest greenwashing campaign” by ExxonMobil.
AFP
“Instead of suing us, they could have worked with us to solve the problem,” ExxonMobil told AFP. “The first step would be to recognize (…) that advanced recycling works (…). We provide real solutions,” it added, claiming to have transformed more than 27,000 tons of plastic waste into reusable materials to date.
The legal proceedings, opened in San Francisco, come after two years of investigation into the petrochemical industry’s responsibility for plastic pollution in the United States, the world’s largest consumer of plastic per capita, which generates around a fifth of the world’s plastic waste.
“This legal action is the most significant to date against the plastics industry and its persistent and ongoing lies about recycling,” said Judith Enck, president of the NGO Beyond Plastics, hoping that it will set “a precedent” and that “others will follow.”
California cultivates its image as a progressive state, especially when it comes to the environment. Its governor, Gavin Newsom, signed into law Sunday a law that will ban all plastic bags in stores starting in 2026, which are already required to provide bags strong enough to be reused.
ExxonMobil shares ended Monday trading up 1.81% on the New York Stock Exchange.
