On September 23, California’s attorney general announced that the state has initiated a lawsuit against Exxon Mobil regarding its alleged contribution to global plastic waste pollution. Attorney General Rob Bonta stated that the action followed an extensive nearly two-year investigation, which reportedly revealed that Exxon misled the public about recycling limitations. This inquiry echoes California’s earlier investigations into the oil industry’s purported attempts to misinform the public about climate change.
Bonta highlighted Exxon’s promotion of its “advanced recycling” technology, which utilizes a pyrolysis process to convert difficult-to-recycle plastics into fuel, arguing that the slow development of this technology indicates ongoing deceit. The lawsuit claims that Exxon Mobil endorsed the widely recognized “chasing arrows” symbol on plastic products, leading consumers to believe that proper disposal would result in recycling. According to Bonta’s office, only around 5 percent of plastic waste in the U.S. is actually recycled, based on estimates from a plastics watchdog. Bonta says he wants to end what he calls the company’s “deceptive practices,” seeking to establish an abatement fund and impose civil penalties for the damage caused by plastic pollution in California. He is pursuing “multiple billions of dollars” in damages, asserting that Exxon Mobil has violated numerous California laws, including false advertising, unfair competition, and pollution. He announced the lawsuit just before just before flying from California to New York City to participate in “Climate Week.”
Global Plastics Treaty Negotiations
California’s lawsuit arrives just before the final round of global treaty negotiations on plastic waste, scheduled for November in Busan, South Korea. During these discussions, nations are divided over whether the treaty should impose limits on plastic production, a stance that Exxon and the global petrochemical sector oppose. The Biden-Harris administration now backs a treaty aimed at reducing global plastic production, shifting from its earlier position that favored a framework allowing individual countries to develop their own strategies, similar to the Paris Agreement. This transition from a decentralized approach to one advocating for global production caps places the U.S. at odds with nations like Saudi Arabia and China, which argue that the UN treaty should focus on downstream solutions, such as enhancing recycling efforts and redesigning packaging, rather than addressing production issues.
Biden-Harris Administration’s Actions Against Plastics
The Biden administration has vowed to end plastic pollution, saying that it is “disproportionately impacting communities with environmental justice concerns, contributing to loss of biodiversity, and exacerbating the impacts of climate change.” The federal government, a significant purchaser of consumer goods, intends to phase out single-use plastics across all federal operations by 2035 as part of its strategy to combat plastic pollution. This phase-out will begin by stopping the procurement of single-use plastics in food service operations, events, and packaging by 2027. The initiative will impact a range of facilities, from concession stands in national parks to feeding programs for the armed forces. This action follows the Biden-Harris administration’s 2022 decision to ban single-use plastics in national parks and on public lands.
Additionally, the Biden-Harris administration has introduced a new strategy, outlined in an 83-page document, targeting plastic pollution at various stages, including production, processing, usage, and disposal. The goal is to decrease the demand for disposable plastic items while fostering a market for alternatives that are reusable, compostable, or more easily recyclable.
Reducing plastic production and usage aligns with the Biden-Harris administration’s stance against oil and gas, the primary sources of plastic. The administration has undertaken over 250 actions aimed at making it more challenging to develop new oil and gas resources. By focusing on visible plastic waste—despite the fact that the U.S. and other developed nations are not the primary contributors—this approach supports the administration’s broader objective to “end fossil fuels.”
According to Oceana, some 33 billion pounds (15 million metric tons) of plastic enter the oceans every year, including single-use items like bottles, packaging, takeout containers, and bags. The Biden-Harris administration has earmarked $70 million for removing plastic debris from U.S. coastal waters and the Great Lakes. The United States, however, is responsible for a very small portion of global ocean plastics pollution. Studies have shown that most plastics end up in the ocean from developing nations around the world that are poor and have little recycling capability but are attracted to plastics’ numerous beneficial uses.
Diverse Applications of Plastics
As the 20th century unfolded, the plastics industry saw remarkable growth. Innovations in production led to the development of various plastic materials, including polyethylene, polyvinyl chloride (PVC), and polystyrene, each possessing distinct properties and applications. Plastics became attractive due to their durability, versatility, and low cost, with the surge in production fueled by abundant fossil fuels, particularly oil and natural gas.
Thanks to these appealing characteristics, plastics infiltrated nearly every facet of everyday life. From the automotive sector to medical devices, plastics adapted to meet a wide array of needs. Their lightweight nature and ease of shaping made them essential in consumer products, commercial uses, construction, packaging, electronics, and transportation, among others. For instance, polypropylene is utilized in everything from packaging to automotive components. Celluloid emerged as a more ethical alternative for denture plates and transformed photography by replacing glass plates with flexible film. Additionally, single-use surgical gloves, syringes, insulin pens, IV tubes, and catheters have significantly reduced the risk of patient infections and streamlined medical operations by alleviating the need for sterilization.
Conclusion
California is on the warpath again against Exxon—this time with a lawsuit claiming the company had misled the public about recycling plastics. The lawsuit comes coincident with a celebrity climate conference in New York City and before a global treaty negotiation in November, where the United States has changed its position and is now supporting production caps on plastics. The Biden-Harris Administration is phasing out single-use plastics from federal government operations beginning in 2027 and banning them from all government operations by 2035. Since plastics are produced from oil and gas, this action is just another way to end fossil fuel use in the United States. Due to their durability, versatility, and low cost, plastics have found their way into virtually every aspect of daily life. To replace them with substitutes that are reusable, compostable, or more easily recyclable will be a challenge and presents yet another burden imposed by the government on Americans.
