California AG sues ExxonMobil over alleged plastic recycling deception
BURLINGAME, Calif. - California Attorney General Rob Bonta on Monday announced the filing of an unprecedented lawsuit against ExxonMobil for allegedly engaging in a 50-year campaign of deception that "caused and exacerbated the global plastics pollution crisis."
In a complaint filed in the San Francisco County Superior Court, the Department of Justice alleged that ExxonMobil uses "slick marketing" to promise that recycling addresses the "ever-increasing" amount of plastic waste the company produces. Exxon produces the largest amount of polymers that becomes waste in California, the AG's office said.
Bonta said his lawsuit aims to compel Exxon to "end its deceptive practices," create an abatement fund and enact civil penalties.
"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 in a statement. "For decades, ExxonMobil has been deceiving the public to convince us that plastic recycling could solve the plastic waste and pollution crisis when they clearly knew this wasn’t possible."
He said that ExxonMobil "lied to further its record-breaking profits."
But ExxonMobil said the allegations aren't fair and California should own its share of the blame.
In a statement, ExxonMobil said that California officials have known for years that their recycling system isn't effective.
"They failed to act," the company said, "and now they seek to blame others."
ExxonMobil said that instead of suing, California could have worked with them to fix the problem to keep plastic out of the landfills.
ExxonMobile said that to date, the company has processed more than 60 million pounds of plastic waste into usable raw materials, keeping it out of landfills.
Meanwhile, a coalition of non-profit Bay Area environmental organizations, including the Surfrider Foundation, the Sierra Club, Heal the Bay, and San Francisco Baykeeper, also held a news conference Monday in Burlingame to announce their own, albeit similar, lawsuit against Exxon.
Their lawsuit, filed by attorneys at Cotchett, Pitre & McCarthy, alleges violations of California nuisance law and California unfair competition law.
Their suit also states that Exxon "systematically led the public to believe that plastic waste is easily and safely disposable via recycling, incineration or landfills, when in reality, plastic persists in the environment for thousands of years, leaking toxic chemicals that are known to harm human health and the environment."
Even with recycling programs in place, less than 5% of our plastic is recycled into another plastic product, despite being labeled as "recyclable" in the United States, the suit contends.
The announcement of the two lawsuits against Exxon comes after Gov. Gavin Newsom on Sunday signed a law banning all plastic shopping bags at grocery stores.
California had already banned thin plastic shopping bags at supermarkets and other stores, but shoppers could purchase bags made with a thicker plastic that purportedly made them reusable and recyclable.
The new measure, approved by state legislators last month, bans all plastic shopping bags starting in 2026. Consumers who don’t bring their own bags will now simply be asked if they want a paper bag.