California’s attorney general sued ExxonMobil (NYSE:XOM) on Monday, alleging that the oil giant had waged a “campaign of deception” for decades to mislead consumers and convince them that recycling was a viable solution for plastic waste. The lawsuit, filed in Superior Court of California in San Francisco, says ExxonMobil promoted recycling as a “cure-all for plastic waste,” even though the company knew that plastic would be difficult to eradicate and that certain methods of recycling could not process much of the waste produced.
It further alleges that ExxonMobil violated state regulations over water pollution and misleading marketing, among others.
“Exxon Mobil knew that 95% of the plastic in the blue bin was going to be incinerated, go into the environment or go into a landfill,” California Attorney General Rob Bonta said in an interview. “They knew and they lied.”
In a statement responding to the lawsuit, ExxonMobil said that “advanced recycling” is effective and that the company has kept more than 60 million pounds of plastic waste out of landfills using the method. The term refers to chemical or heat-based recycling: processes that breaks plastic down to its basic chemical components for potential reuse.
XOM shares closed Monday as $117.36.