California AG says ExxonMobil misled public on plastic recycling

California’s attorney general sued ExxonMobil this week, claiming that the oil- and plastic-producing giant has been pushing a “myth” for decades that plastic is easily recycled, so that it could make and sell more plastic products.

Only about 5% of plastic waste in the U.S. is recycled, and that rate has never been greater than 9%, according to the California attorney general’s office.

“For decades, ExxonMobil, one of the most powerful companies in the world, falsely promoted all plastic as recyclable, when in fact the vast majority of plastic products are not and likely cannot be recycled, either technically or economically,” Attorney General Rob Bonta’s office explained in a press release. “This caused consumers to purchase and use more single-use plastic than they otherwise would have due to the company’s misleading public statements and advertising.”

Bonta filed the lawsuit in San Francisco after his office conducted a two-year investigation into the role of fossil fuel companies in causing a global crisis in plastic pollution. He is asking for money to deal with the crisis, civil penalties and ExxonMobil to give up profits related to the lawsuit's claims.

The lawsuit is the first of its kind to target the marketing practices of plastics manufacturers. A handful of states—including California—have sued fossil fuel companies related to their greenhouse gas production, while several states and cities have tried to limit the use of single-use plastics with taxes or outright bans. In fact, Gov. Gavin Newsom signed a new law this weekend effectively banning California stores from offering plastic shopping bags to customers starting in 2026.

But Bonta’s challenge adds another dimension to those actions, by taking on the largest producer of plastic polymers in the world.

“This is a tremendously important lawsuit,” said Daniel Rosenberg, director of federal toxics policy for the Natural Resources Defense Council, an environmental group. “It’s the first real effort to hold the plastics and chemical industry accountable for all of the problems of plastic pollution that have been visited on the state of California and, by extension, the rest of the country.”

The complaint chronicles how ExxonMobil pushed a narrative about plastics being recycled for decades right up to the present day, Rosenberg said. These days, the company is pushing “advanced recycling” or “chemical recycling” as a way to get rid of plastic waste, which uses heat and solvent to break down plastics. While some of it is used to produce new plastic products, most goes toward making fuel. Rosenberg called the term “propaganda” rather than a serious attempt to recycle plastic. At least 18 states have passed policies to promote chemical recycling.

But ExxonMobil put the blame for low recycling rates back on state policymakers.

“For decades, California officials have known their recycling system isn’t effective. They failed to act, and now they seek to blame others. Instead of suing us, they could have worked with us to fix the problem and keep plastic out of landfills,” Lauren Kight, spokesperson for ExxonMobil, told The Associated Press.

Bonta’s lawsuit, though, said the oil giant has known for decades that plastic recycling is rare and often not even possible.

“Even as it ramped up plastic production and deceptively promoted recycling as a cure-all for plastic waste, ExxonMobil knew that the consequent amount of plastic waste would continue to rise, inevitably leading to ever-increasing plastic pollution of the environment, harming California’s iconic coastlines, waterways, wildlife and residents,” Bonta wrote in the complaint.

“ExxonMobil knew that once plastic enters the environment it is extremely costly and difficult to eradicate and that plastic predictably disintegrates into microplastics—tiny plastic bits measuring five millimeters or less—which pose an even greater threat of harm to the environment and all living things, including human bodies,” he added. “For decades, ExxonMobil has dumped the cleanup and environmental costs of its plastic production on the public, and Californians are paying the price.”

Rosenberg from the NRDC said the oil company uses the same message about recycling plastic to push policies with public officials and to ease consumer worries about their products.

“Not just the legislative bodies, but state and federal agencies are hearing the same claims and stories that are discussed in the attorney general’s complaint. They are the same things that lobbyists are telling people in the [Environmental Protection Agency] and the Department of Energy every day,” he said.

California’s lawsuit comes as the United Nations tries to hammer out a global treaty to limit plastics production, encourage plastic clean-up efforts and find new ways to recycle plastic.

Last year, New York Attorney General Letitia James sued PepsiCo for producing single-use plastic packaging that led to pollution along the Buffalo River.

“No company is too big to ensure that their products do not damage our environment and public health. All New Yorkers have a basic right to clean water, yet PepsiCo’s irresponsible packaging and marketing endanger Buffalo’s water supply, environment, and public health,” James said in a statement. “No one should have to worry about plastics in their drinking water, plastic garbage littering their scenic riverfront, or plastic pollution harming wildlife. I will never hesitate to take on major corporations that put the health and safety of everyday New Yorkers and our planet at risk.”

But in Congress, a Democrat from North Carolina and a Republican from Indiana teamed up to introduce legislation that would encourage the use of chemical recycling and preempt states from regulating it.

“The Accelerating a Circular Economy for Plastics and Recycling Innovation Act will help us do better by modernizing our recycling infrastructure to harness innovative technologies and recycle greater amounts of plastic waste that otherwise would end up in the landfill or in the environment and reuse them,” said U.S. Rep. Larry Bucshon of Indiana in a statement. U.S. Rep. Don Davis of North Carolina is cosponsoring the measure.

While the bill is not expected to advance this year, Rosenberg said he expects the chemical industry to push similar efforts in the future.

“Whatever the outcome of the presidential election is, the industry is going to continue to push, not just for legislation in Congress, but also for regulations from the EPA that would weaken federal protections from plastic pollution,” he said. “But that’s something state-level and local voices opposing those kinds of proposals can have a big impact on.”