California Attorney General Rob Bonta. (May 10, 2023)
California is targeting ExxonMobil's plastics recycling programs, claiming the oil giant is deliberately deceiving the public into purchasing single-use plastic products that can't be recycled.
California Attorney General Rob Bonta announced Monday that the state has filed a lawsuit that describes Exxon's advanced recycling program as a sham.
"For decades, ExxonMobil, one of the most powerful companies in the world, falsely promoted all plastic as recyclable, when in fact the vast majority of plastic products are not and likely cannot be recycled, either technically or economically," Bonta said in a statement.
The attorney general has two press conferences planned Monday: a virtual appearance at 11 a.m. with Bay Area environmental groups and a 1 p.m. event along the waterfront in Burlingame.
As of late Monday morning, ExxonMobil has not issued a statement or responded to requests for comment about the lawsuit.
The company is the world's largest producer of polymers used to make single-use plastics, Bonta's office maintains, and the materials are molded by other companies into single-use plastic.
"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," Bonta said.
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A complaint filed in San Francisco County Superior Court alleges ExxonMobil has issued misleading statements for decades and issued "slick marketing promising that recycling would address the ever-increasing amount of plastic waste ExxonMobil produces."
The lawsuit aims to compel Exxon to end its plastics marketing program, maintaining that it threatens the environment and the public.
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Bonta is calling for civil penalties and for Exxon to use its plastics profits to pay into an abatement fund.
