California sues Exxon for allegedly lying about recycling

The state of California sued Exxon Mobil on Monday for allegedly deceiving the public for decades by overstating the effectiveness of plastic recycling, even though the oil giant was aware that less than 5% of all US plastic waste is actually recycled.

California Attorney General Rob Bonta said the suit seeks “billions of dollars” from Exxon. The company, worth half a trillion, is the leading producer of petrochemicals used to manufacture single-use plastics.

The lawsuit claims Exxon encouraged excessive use of plastic by promising that all products with a recyclable symbol are recycled when discarded properly into bins, despite knowing that most of it ends up in landfills.

According to the lawsuit, Exxon knew that plastic is “extremely costly and difficult to eradicate” and that waste would continue to pile up and disintegrate into harmful microplastics. Yet, the oil titan increased its petrochemical production and touted recycling as the solution.

Meanwhile, Exxon lobbied against banning plastic production.

Recently, the company has been promoting “advanced recycling” or “chemical recycling,” which recycles just 8% of its plastic waste.

In response, Exxon said California knew its recycling system wasn’t effective and failed to act, and the state is blaming others. A spokesperson said the company has processed over 60 million pounds of plastic waste into usable raw materials.

California handles over 10 billion pounds of plastic each year.

America’s plastic recycling rate has never broken 9%, says Judith Enck, president of recycling company Beyond Plastics.