ExxonMobil accused of misleading marketing of plastic recycling process – ProPublica

In a landmark lawsuit filed this week, California's attorney general accused ExxonMobil of “fraudulently” promoting chemical recycling as a solution to the plastics crisis. He cited recent reporting from ProPublica and explained our findings.

In June, we investigated the oil giant's claim that it converted discarded plastic into new fruit cups using an “advanced” chemical recycling technology called pyrolysis. We've broken down the math to show how little recycled content is contained in products made this way and how companies are increasing this percentage in their marketing.

The lawsuit cited the fruit cup example alongside the attorney general's own findings that reveal an even greater gap between what ExxonMobil advertises and the actual amount of recycled plastic in its products.

ProPublica reported that plastic made through pyrolysis must contain no more than 10% recycled content. Because the technology is kept secret, we were unable to determine the specific amount in ExxonMobil's products.

Citing internal company documents, the lawsuit says ExxonMobil's process yields less than 0.1% recycled plastic.

Still, the company marketed the cups as having “30% ISCC PLUS certified circular content” — shorthand for 30% recycled — using a controversial accounting method called mass balance, which allows recyclers to increase a product's advertised recyclability by reducing its advertised recyclability other, less lucrative products.

The lawsuit cited ProPublica's reporting on the first federal action on mass balance, taken last month when the Environmental Protection Agency banned its use in a voluntary sustainable products program. The California lawsuit says the mass balance “is widely criticized, including by some members of the plastics industry, precisely because it misleads the public.”

ExxonMobil has a “massive financial interest” in ensuring that mass balance methods are “widely accepted and even enshrined in law,” the lawsuit says. “In fact, public deception continues Is ExxonMobil’s business model.”

During a press conference on Monday, California Attorney General Rob Bonta criticized the oil giant for “falsely touting 'advanced recycling'” as a solution to the plastic crisis, calling it ExxonMobil's “biggest greenwashing campaign.”

In a statement, an ExxonMobil spokesperson emphasized that advanced recycling works. “To date, we have processed more than 60 million pounds of plastic waste into usable raw materials, keeping them out of landfills.” California officials have known for decades that the state's recycling system was ineffective, the statement said. “Instead of suing us, they could have worked with us to fix the problem.”

The California lawsuit doesn't just focus on chemical recycling. It accused ExxonMobil of misleading the public for decades about the sustainability of plastics, first by promoting traditional recycling even though plastics were known to be functionally unrecyclable, and more recently by marketing advanced recycling as a panacea. Unlike traditional recycling, advanced recycling uses heat or chemicals to break down plastic into its molecular building blocks. But it has done little to improve America's 5% plastic recycling rate and cannot solve the environmental damage or health problems caused by microplastics and toxic chemicals.

Plastic recycling is “a farce, a lie, a deception,” Bonta said during the press conference. “One thing ExxonMobil is actually doing is recycling its lies.”

Judith Enck, founder of the advocacy group Beyond Plastics, called California's lawsuit “the most consequential lawsuit in the country” when it comes to holding the plastics industry accountable, telling ProPublica it reminded her of the tobacco lawsuits from the 1990s, which ultimately led to lawsuits worth billions in US dollars in compensation for misleading advertising about the risks of smoking.

The lawsuit seeks a compensation fund to mitigate the harm caused by the company's actions. Bonta told reporters that the fund – which he hopes will total “billions of dollars” – will finance measures such as educating the public about the truth of plastic recycling. Enck said she wants to use the money to expand refill and reuse infrastructure in California. This could include installing dishwashing equipment in schools and hospitals to reduce single-use plastic, or setting up water bottle refill stations, which are available in airports but rare in other public spaces.

Bonta's lawsuit was filed on the same day as a separate lawsuit by four environmental groups, including the Sierra Club. The lawsuit also accuses ExxonMobil of misleading the public about the recyclability of plastic. Bonta and the groups' leaders spoke at the same news conference.

Enck said the reporting by ProPublica and other news outlets “created breadcrumbs for litigators.” The California lawsuit comes two years after Bonta's office sent subpoenas to ExxonMobil and industry trade groups to investigate their “historic and ongoing efforts to deceive the public.”

The lawsuit also cited the company's work with trade groups such as the American Chemistry Council. For example, from 2020 to 2023, the company provided $19.4 million to the council for an advertising campaign and statewide policy work on advanced recycling. A video that garnered more than 8 million YouTube views said: “Imagine a future where plastic is not wasted, but is continually reprocessed into things that keep our food fresher, our families safer, and our planet.” keep it cleaner.”

This advertising campaign, “with ExxonMobil at the helm, fraudulently attempts to convince consumers that recycling, particularly 'advanced recycling,' will save the day in order to continue saturating the public and the planet with single-use plastic,” it says in the lawsuit.

“It is disappointing that legal action has diverted time and resources from our industry’s efforts to build a circular economy for plastics,” the American Chemistry Council said in a statement. “Regardless, we remain true to our mission of advocating for effective policies, collaborating with communities and investing in new technologies that help increase plastic recycling and the use of recycled plastic in products, contributing to a more sustainable future. “

ExxonMobil's ads are misleading because the company knows its advanced recycling process is not economical and can only process small amounts of consumer waste, the lawsuit says. In fact, only about 8% of plastic waste fed into the advanced recycling system becomes new plastic; The rest is burned as fuel or into other non-plastic products. Even if ExxonMobil were to pursue a potentially more efficient future project, it would only be able to convert 13% of plastic waste into new plastic.

“The truth is that ExxonMobil's 'Advanced Recycling' program resembles less a recycling program,” the lawsuit says, “and more resembles a waste disposal or destruction program similar to the incineration solutions that ExxonMobil has advocated in the past has.”