California initiated legal action against ExxonMobil on Monday, accusing the company of a “decades-long campaign of deception” regarding plastic recycling that has exacerbated the global pollution crisis.
In a detailed lawsuit filed in San Francisco, Attorney General Rob Bonta claimed ExxonMobil misled consumers through “slick marketing,” creating the false impression that single-use plastics could be effectively recycled. In reality, most of these plastics end up polluting the environment.
Bonta’s lawsuit aims to hold ExxonMobil, a major producer of plastic polymers, accountable for cleaning up millions of tons of plastic waste and educating the public about the environmental impacts of their products. He estimated that the financial burden could reach billions of dollars.
“Plastic contaminates our drinking water, harms wildlife, and damages our landscapes,” Bonta stated. “Microplastics have been found in our lungs, breast milk, and blood. ExxonMobil’s solution? A deceptive narrative about plastic recycling.”
Bonta highlighted that since the 1970s, ExxonMobil has known the realities of plastic pollution yet continues to promote the myth that recycling is a viable solution.
This lawsuit adds to a growing trend of legal actions against oil and gas companies for their contributions to environmental degradation and climate change. California, along with over 20 other state and local governments, is working to hold these corporations accountable for their role in worsening pollution and climate issues. Last year, the state also sued ExxonMobil and other oil companies for misleading consumers about the climate impacts of fossil fuel use.
California’s Department of Justice announced on Monday that ExxonMobil has known for decades that most plastics produced from its products cannot be recycled, due to either a lack of technology or economic feasibility.
The company, through a trade group, promoted the “chasing arrows” symbol, misleading consumers into believing that the plastics they purchased could be reintegrated into the production cycle instead of ending up in landfills.
According to a press release, “In reality, only about five percent of U.S. plastic waste is recycled, and the recycling rate has never exceeded nine percent.”
The lawsuit claims that ExxonMobil has recently begun promoting “advanced recycling,” which refers to heat or solvent-based processes that can theoretically convert certain plastic waste into petrochemical feedstock for new plastics. However, the lawsuit states that 92 percent of the plastic treated this way does not become new plastic products but is instead converted into fuel.
“ExxonMobil has failed to meaningfully invest in the sham solution of recycling, instead spending millions to market the deception itself,” said Attorney General Rob Bonta. He added, “ExxonMobil’s biggest greenwashing campaign falsely promotes ‘advanced recycling’ as a solution to plastic pollution. It’s neither new nor advanced nor recycling.”
In response, ExxonMobil defended its practices, stating that California officials are to blame for not addressing a recycling system that “isn’t effective” and standing by their claims about “advanced recycling.”
“We’re providing real solutions by recycling plastic waste that traditional methods can’t handle.
So far, we’ve processed over 60 million pounds of plastic waste into usable raw materials, preventing it from ending up in landfills,” the company stated.
According to the environmental group The Sierra Club, ExxonMobil produces approximately six million tons of plastic annually. This means that since its inception, the company’s “advanced recycling” method has only processed about 0.5 percent of its annual production.
