California initiated legal action against ExxonMobil on Monday, accusing the company of a “decades-long campaign of deception” about the recyclability of plastics, contributing to the global pollution crisis.
In a lawsuit filed in San Francisco, Attorney General Rob Bonta claimed ExxonMobil employed “slick marketing” to mislead consumers into believing single-use plastics could be recycled, even though most of them end up polluting the environment.
The lawsuit seeks to hold ExxonMobil accountable for its role in producing plastics, demanding the company pay for the cleanup of millions of tons of plastic waste and fund consumer education on the environmental harm caused by these products. Bonta indicated that ExxonMobil could face a bill worth billions of dollars.
“Plastic contaminates our drinking water, strangles wildlife, and ruins our landscapes,” Bonta said. “Microplastics have been found in our lungs, placental tissue, breast milk, and blood.”
“What solution does ExxonMobil offer? Plastic recycling: a farce, a lie, a deceit,” he added.
Bonta emphasized that ExxonMobil has been aware of the realities of plastic pollution and recycling since the 1970s but continued to promote the idea that recycling could address the problem. He argued the company knows that most plastic products are not, and likely cannot be, recycled.
The lawsuit is part of a broader wave of legal claims targeting oil and gas companies for their role in exacerbating environmental crises, particularly through the widespread use of carbon-based fuels. California, alongside over 20 other states and local governments, has sought to hold these corporations accountable for contributing to pollution and global warming.
Last year, California also sued ExxonMobil and other oil giants, accusing them of misleading the public about the climate damage caused by fossil fuels.
According to the lawsuit, ExxonMobil has long known that most plastics it produces cannot be recycled due to either technological or economic limitations. Despite this, the company promoted the use of the “chasing arrows” recycling symbol, leading consumers to believe the plastics they purchased were being reprocessed, when in reality, the majority were sent to landfills.
“Only about five percent of U.S. plastic waste is recycled, and the recycling rate has never exceeded nine percent,” a press release from California’s Department of Justice stated.
The lawsuit also addresses ExxonMobil’s recent promotion of “advanced recycling,” a term used to describe processes like heat or solvent-based technologies that can, in theory, convert some plastic waste into feedstock for new plastic production. However, the suit alleges that 92 percent of the plastic treated in this way is turned into fuel, not new plastic products.
“ExxonMobil has spent millions on marketing the illusion of advanced recycling instead of meaningfully investing in actual solutions,” Bonta said. “This so-called ‘advanced recycling’ is neither new nor advanced, and it’s not true recycling.”
In response, ExxonMobil defended its practices, arguing that California’s ineffective recycling system is to blame. The company insisted its “advanced recycling” efforts were making a difference, claiming to have processed over 60 million pounds of plastic waste into usable materials.
However, environmental group The Sierra Club pointed out that ExxonMobil produces around six million tons of plastic annually, meaning the company’s recycling efforts account for just 0.5 percent of its yearly plastic output.
I am an experienced writer, analyst, and author. My exposure in English journalism spans more than 28 years. In the past, I have been working with daily The Muslim (Lahore Bureau), daily Business Recorder (Lahore/Islamabad Bureaus), Daily Times, Islamabad, daily The Nation (Lahore and Karachi). With daily The Nation, I have served as Resident Editor, Karachi. Since 2009, I have been working as a Freelance Writer/Editor for American organizations.
