California takes ExxonMobil to court for plastic pollution crisis

The state of California, United States, has sued multinational oil and gas corporation ExxonMobil Corporation for its “decades-long campaign of deception” by perpetuating the myth of effective recycling and sparking a plastic pollution crisis.

The lawsuit, filed in Superior Court in San Francisco, alleges that ExxonMobil has known for decades about the harmful environmental impacts of plastic pollution but has intentionally misled the public about the recyclability of plastic products. ExxonMobil encouraged the public to live a throw-away lifestyle and normalised the consumption of unnecessary single-use plastics to fuel demand for their plastic products, the lawsuit alleged.

The company was accused of engaging in a deceptive marketing campaign that promotes the idea that plastic waste can be easily recycled, while simultaneously lobbying against policies that would reduce plastic production or improve recycling infrastructure.

California’s Attorney General Rob Bonta argued that ExxonMobil’s actions have contributed to the severe plastic pollution crisis facing the state and the world.

The company was accused of being “primarily responsible” for causing and exacerbating the plastic waste and pollution crisis, which has become a major environmental problem, clogging landfills, polluting oceans and harming wildlife. The lawsuit highlighted the fact that only a small fraction of plastic waste is actually recycled, while the majority ends up in landfills or the environment.

The lawsuit also accused ExxonMobil of violating California’s consumer protection laws by misleading consumers about the recyclability of plastic products. The company allegedly used deceptive advertising and marketing campaigns to promote the idea that plastic is a sustainable and environmentally friendly material. This led consumers to believe that they can help protect the environment by recycling their plastic waste, when in reality, much of it is destined for landfills or incineration.

ExxonMobil has denied the allegations in the lawsuit, claiming it was “bringing real solutions, recycling plastic waste that couldn’t be recycled by traditional methods”, quoted British daily The Guardian.

The company’s stance shifted the responsibility for California’s plastic waste crisis onto state officials, accusing them of neglecting the recycling system. The company spokesperson, quoted by the British newspaper, argued that, rather than suing the oil industry, California could have collaborated with them to improve the recycling process and reduce landfill plastic waste.

The ExxonMobil response framed the issue as a governmental failure and deflected criticism aimed at the oil industry for its role in the plastic pollution problem.

Rising climate and green litigations against Big Oil

In 2022, Bonta announced a probe into the fossil fuel and petrochemical industries for their role in causing the global plastic pollution crisis. “As fossil fuel continues to be replaced by clean energy sources, fossil fuel and petrochemical companies have doubled down on plastics production, recently investing an additional $208 billion to expand plastic production worldwide,” an official note by Bonta’s office stated.

“In the 1980s, in the wake of images of overflowing plastic at landfills and widespread plastics litter, state legislatures and local governments began considering bills restricting or banning plastic products. In response, the plastics industry, comprised of major fossil fuel and petrochemical companies, began an aggressive — and deceptive — marketing and advertising campaign to convince the public that they could recycle their way out of the plastic waste problem. Executives at major fossil fuel companies, however, knew the truth,” the statement for the investigation added.

A paper published in Science in January last year revealed that ExxonMobil scientists had accurately predicted the climate impacts of fossil fuel combustion decades ago. Despite possessing this knowledge, the corporation funded and led a massive campaign to cast doubt on human-driven climate change and the scientific evidence supporting it.

Around a year ago, California Governor Gavin Newsom and Bonta filed a lawsuit against five major oil and gas companies, accusing them of over five decades of deception in which they sowed climate doubt despite knowing fossil fuel’s contributions to global warming.

These cover-ups and damage that have allegedly cost California taxpayers billions in health and environmental impacts, they said. “The state of California has suffered, is suffering and will continue to suffer injuries as a result of the oil and gas industry’s wrongful conduct,” the 135-page lawsuit stated.

On September 22, 2024, Newsom signed legislation completely banning plastic bags from grocery store checkouts in California.

The number of countries and states suing oil and gas companies for their role in climate change has been steadily increasing in recent years.

The lawsuit against ExxonMobil is part of a growing legal and public pressure on the oil and gas industry to take responsibility for the environmental damage caused by plastic pollution.

The outcome of the lawsuit against ExxonMobil could have significant implications for the future of the plastics industry and the fight against plastic pollution by setting a precedent for other jurisdictions. As of December 31, 2022, there were 1,522 climate litigation cases in the US, according to a 2023 report by United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP).

Earlier this year, a criminal case was filed in Paris, France, against the top executives of the French oil company TotalEnergies, alleging that its fossil fuel exploitation contributed to the deaths of victims of climate-related extreme weather disasters.

In June 2021, a Dutch court ordered oil and gas giant Shell to reduce carbon dioxide emissions by at least 45 per cent from 2019 levels, by the end of 2030. The UNEP report also found a staggering 127 climate lawsuits in Australia.