California has filed a first-of-its-kind lawsuit against ExxonMobil for allegedly misleading the public about the plastic pollution crisis, state Attorney General Rob Bonta announced Monday.
“For decades, ExxonMobil deceived the public into believing that recycling plastic could solve the plastic waste and pollution crisis when they clearly knew that was not possible,” Bonta said in a statement.
The announcement comes amid growing public concern about the environmental and climate impact of the plastics sector.
Two years ago, Bonta launched an investigation into fossil fuel and petrochemical producers “for their role in creating and exacerbating the global plastic pollution crisis.” As part of that investigation, he issued a subpoena to oil giant ExxonMobil and plastics trade groups seeking related documents.
In May 2024, industry groups asked a U.S. district court to block the subpoena, but a federal district judge this month preliminarily rejected their argument that the investigation violated the First Amendment.
A February report from the The advocacy group Center for Climate Integrity (CCI) found that plastic producers have known for decades that plastic recycling is too complicated and expensive to be a viable waste management solution, but they have been promoting it anyway. In a statement, CCI President Richard Wiles called the lawsuit “the most significant legal action to date in the global fight against plastic pollution.”
Last year, California filed a lawsuit against Exxon and four other major oil companies, accusing them of sowing doubt about climate change despite long-standing knowledge that their products contribute to global warming. About two dozen other states and municipalities across the United States have filed similar lawsuits.
“Just as Exxon knew and lied about how its fossil fuel products were causing climate change, the polluter also knew and lied for decades about the reality that its plastic products could never be recycled at scale,” Wiles said. “From climate to plastics, Exxon’s entire business model is based on lying to the public about the harm its products cause.”
The Guardian has contacted Exxon for comment.
Advocates hope the California lawsuit, filed in San Francisco County Superior Court, will spark a wave of similar litigation.
“Attorney General Bonta is leading the way for corporate responsibility and a cleaner, healthier world,” Judith Enck, director of the anti-plastics advocacy group Beyond Plastics and a former senior official at the Environmental Protection Agency, said in a statement. “This lawsuit will set an invaluable precedent for others to follow.”
A poll this month by the CCI and the progressive pollster Data for Progress found that a majority of American voters, including 54 percent of Republicans, would support legal efforts to hold oil and petrochemicals accountable for the plastics crisis.
On Sunday, California Governor Gavin Newsom also signed a law banning the distribution of plastic bags.
