ESG Enforcement Tracker

Key facts:

In September 2024, the California Attorney General, Rob Bonta, filed a lawsuit against ExxonMobil, the world’s largest producer of polymers used to make single-use plastics, for allegedly engaging in a longstanding campaign of deception that caused and aggravated the global plastics pollution crisis.

The complaint, filed in the San Francisco County Superior Court, focuses on ExxonMobil’s deceptive marketing strategies, which it states are designed to mislead consumers and perpetuate the myth that recycling will solve the plastics pollution crisis. It alleges that ExxonMobil:

1. falsely promoted all plastic as recyclable, even though the vast majority of plastic products are not recyclable and likely cannot be recycled, either technically or economically; and
2. is currently promoting “advanced recycling” as the solution to the plastic waste and pollution crisis when, in reality, this is nothing more than a public relations stunt aimed at encouraging people to continuing purchasing single-use plastics.

“Advanced recycling” is a term used by the plastics industry to describe a variety of heat or solvent-based technologies that can, in theory, convert certain types of plastic waste into petrochemical feedstock, which can be used to make new plastic. However, ExxonMobil is said to have concealed prominent technical limitations of this process, including the fact that 92% of the plastic waste processed through ExxonMobil’s “advanced recycling” technology does not become recycled plastic, instead it primarily turns into fuels, which are ultimately destroyed after they are combusted.

Therefore, the complaint holds that these claims are misleading and misrepresent ExxonMobil’s products and ExxonMobil itself as environmentally friendly.

The complaint alleges that ExxonMobil has violated state nuisance, natural resources, water pollution, false advertisement, and unfair competition laws. The Attorney General is seeking:

1. nuisance abatement;
2. disgorgement, which would require ExxonMobil to disgorge profits gained through its illegal conduct;
3. civil penalties; and
4. injunctive relief to prevent ExxonMobil from making further false or misleading statements about plastics recycling but also to protect California’s natural resources from further pollution and destruction.