By South China Morning Post | Created at 2024-09-23 21:18:21 | Updated at 2024-09-30 23:46:20
1 week ago
California sued ExxonMobil on Monday, alleging it deceived the public for half a century by promising that recycling would address the global plastic pollutions crisis.
Attorney General Rob Bonta’s office said that even with recycling programmes, less than 5 per cent of plastic is recycled into another plastic product in the US even though the items are labelled as “recyclable”. As a result, landfills and oceans are filled with plastic waste.
ExxonMobil did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Bonta, a Democrat, said a coalition of non-profit environmental organisations has filed a similar lawsuit against the oil giant, which is one of the world’s largest producers of plastics. The state’s lawsuit is a separate action. Both suits allege ExxonMobil misled the public through statements and slick marketing campaigns.
Bonta’s office said in a statement that the attorney general hopes to compel ExxonMobil to end its deceptive practices and to secure an abatement fund and civil penalties for the harm.
