California Accuses ExxonMobil of Lying About Plastics Being Recyclable

The state of California sued ExxonMobil on Monday, accusing the oil giant of misleading the public about the effectiveness of plastics recycling and contributing to the flood of bottles, bags and wrappers polluting waterways in the state and worldwide. In the first lawsuit of its kind, California Attorney General Rob Bonta (D) alleged that ExxonMobil has engaged “in a decades-long campaign of deception that caused and exacerbated the global plastics pollution crisis.” ExxonMobil is a major producer of the synthetic substances used to make plastics. The lawsuit, filed Monday in San Francisco County Superior Court, seeks to hold the oil titan accountable for allegedly falsely promoting all plastics as recyclable. Some recent estimates suggest that only a small fraction of the plastic produced gets recycled: about 9 percent worldwide and about 5 to 6 percent in the United States.

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