Sacramento, Sep 24
The US state of California filed a lawsuit against oil and gas giant ExxonMobil, accusing the company of conducting a "decades-long campaign of deception" regarding plastic recycling.
The state's Department of Justice claimed on Monday that ExxonMobil had been deceiving Californians for half a century through misleading public statements and marketing campaigns.
These efforts allegedly promised that recycling would solve the increasing plastic waste issue produced by the company, according to a press release from California Attorney General Rob Bonta's office.
The suit, filed in San Francisco County Superior Court, accuses ExxonMobil of being the largest producer of polymers used in single-use plastic that becomes plastic waste in California, news agency reported.
It seeks to compel the company to "end its deceptive practices that threaten the environment and the public," the release said.
Additionally, Bonta is seeking an abatement fund, disgorgement, and civil penalties for the harm caused by plastic pollution to California's communities and environment.
"Plastics are everywhere, from the deepest parts of our oceans, the highest peaks on Earth, and even in our bodies, causing irreversible damage -- in ways known and unknown -- to our environment and potentially our health," said Bonta in the statement.
"For decades, ExxonMobil has been deceiving the public to convince us that plastic recycling could solve the plastic waste and pollution crisis when they clearly knew this wasn't possible. ExxonMobil lied to further its record-breaking profits at the expense of our planet and possibly jeopardising our health," he continued.