Plastics deception case against Exxon wins key ruling

A group of nonprofits seeking to hold ExxonMobil accountable for its role in the plastic pollution crisis won an important court ruling this month, when a federal court in California ruled that one of their key legal arguments could move forward toward trial. 

The lawsuit from the Sierra Club, Surfrider Foundation, Heal the Bay, and Baykeeper argues that ExxonMobil, the world’s largest producer of polymers used in single-use plastics fueled the plastic pollution crisis by “promoting the fiction that single-use plastic waste can be safely, technically, and economically disposed by landfilling, recycling, or incineration” while in reality “each results in harmful pollution.&rdquo

Last year’s CCI report, “The Fraud of Plastic Recycling,” exposed how Exxon and other major plastics producers have deceptively promoted recycling as a solution to plastic waste management for more than 50 years, despite their long-standing knowledge that plastic recycling is not technically or economically viable at scale. Evidence from that report was cited by the four nonprofits and the California attorney general’s office in separate lawsuits they filed to hold Exxon accountable for plastic recycling deception.

ExxonMobil asked the court to dismiss the nonprofits’ case entirely, but Chief Judge Richard Seeborg of the Northern District of California ruled that the nonprofits’ argument that the oil giant “contributed to the creation of a public nuisance” concerning single-use plastic pollution could move forward. 

The judge found that the plaintiffs’ allegations that Exxon “promoted and sold massive amounts of non-biodegradable, non-recyclable plastic for decades, all the while pushing a misleading narrative that suggested the plastic could be disposed of safely,” provided the basis for a plausible legal claim against the company.   

This year, a second CCI report, “The Fraud of Advanced Recycling,” showed how, in response to growing public and governmental pressure, Exxon and others are now deceptively marketing “advanced” recycling to the public as a solution for plastic waste, even as industry insiders point out its many flaws. Meanwhile, plastics producers still continue business as usual, flooding the world with ever-greater amounts of plastic.