The state of California filed a lawsuit Monday against oil giant ExxonMobil for its role in creating millions of tons of plastic that contaminates land, water, and human bodies—all of which promotes the false notion that most of the plastic we buy can be recycled. .
A statement from California Attorney General Rob Bonta on Sunday alleged that ExxonMobil “has been deceiving the people of California for 50 years” through “misleading public statements and deceptive marketing” promising that recycling would be able to deal with the world’s largest amount of plastic waste. produced by ExxonMobil polymers.
It was only in the last decade that the public learned that the vast majority of plastic placed in recycling bins around the world will never be reused. Sometimes the plastic is sent overseas to places like Southeast Asia, and sometimes it just ends up in a landfill. China, which used to be one of the world’s most notorious places for dumping plastic waste, stopped taking plastic for “recycling” in 2018. Only about 5% of plastic waste in the US is recycled, according to the latest. studies.
A new lawsuit was filed in San Francisco County Superior Court on Monday by the Attorney General, who has targeted in recent years the use of single-use plastics that cannot be recycled. Single-use plastics include plastic packaging, plastic bags, plastic containers, and disposable containers, among many others. Bonta is launching its first investigation in 2022 into the oil and petrochemical industries and their role in creating the plastic problem.
“Through its fraud, ExxonMobil has created or contributed significantly to the plastic pollution that has harmed and continues to harm California’s environment, wildlife and natural resources,” Bonta said in a press release.
While the public has been in the dark about the fact that most plastics are not recyclable, the California lawsuit points to ExxonMobil’s long history of allegedly pushing false claims that make it appear that plastics are recyclable. For example, Bonta cites a 1989 ad from a trade group affiliated with ExxonMobil in Time magazine that said plastics would be recycled.
The damages sought by California were not specified in the lawsuit, which was filed in its entirety online, although it is asking the court to force ExxonMobil to “disgorge the profits made by its illegal conduct,” and pay unspecified penalties. .
California reports that more than 26 million pounds of trash has collected on state beaches and waterways since 1985, and more than 80% of that trash is plastic. But it’s not just the natural environment that has become overrun with plastic over the past 50 years. Scientists are finding more and more microplastics in the human body, in everything from our hearts and livers to the human brain and testicles.
“Plastics are everywhere, from the depths of our oceans, the highest peaks on earth, and even in our bodies, causing irreparable damage – in ways known and unknown – to our environment and our health,” Bonta said in a press release. about the case.
“For decades, ExxonMobil has been deceiving the public to convince us that plastic recycling can solve the problem of plastic pollution and pollution when they clearly know that this will not happen,” continued Bonta. “ExxonMobil lied to advance record profits at the cost of destroying our world and possibly putting our lives at risk.”
“Today’s case shows the full picture yet of ExxonMobil’s decades-long deception, and we ask the court to hold ExxonMobil fully accountable for its role in creating and exacerbating the problem of plastic pollution through its campaign of deception.”
ExxonMobil did not respond to emailed questions Monday. Gizmodo will update this post when we hear back.
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