Public 'Duped' About Plastics Recycling, CA Launches Investigation

CALIFORNIA — California Attorney General Rob Bonta announced Thursday his office has launched "a first-of-its-kind" investigation into the fossil fuel and petrochemical industries for "their role in causing and exacerbating the global plastics pollution crisis."

"For decades, the fossil fuel and petrochemical industries have promoted the myth that we can recycle our way out of the plastics pollution problem," Bonta's office said in a news release.

We can't — and for decades the fossil fuel and petrochemical industries have convinced the public that it's possible, according to the attorney general.

Bonta said his investigation will focus on the industries' role in misleading the public about plastics recycling and the ongoing harm caused to the state as well as its residents and natural resources.

One company already targeted is ExxonMobil. On Thursday, the attorney general issued a subpoena to the Texas-based oil and gas corporation seeking information related to "the company's role in deceiving the public," Bonta's office reported.

"ExxonMobil is one of the largest polymer producers in [the] world — its polymers account for more single-use plastic waste than any other company — and was an active participant in the Council for Solid Waste Solutions, which spent millions of dollars in the 1980s to convince the public we could recycle our way out of the plastics problem," the attorney general's office said in the news release.

In an emailed statement, ExxonMobil spokesperson Julie L. King said the company rejects Bonta's allegations.

"We share society’s concerns and are collaborating with governments, including the State of California, communities and other industries to support projects around the world to improve waste management and circularity," King wrote. "We are the first company to deploy commercial-scale advanced recycling technology at a major petrochemical facility. This technology converts a broad range of used plastic to raw materials that can be utilized to make new plastic.

"We are focused on solutions and meritless allegations like these distract from the important collaborative work that is underway to enhance waste management and improve circularity," the emailed statement said.

According to Bonta, The Council for Solid Waste Solutions, a special project formed by the Society of Plastics Industry, was comprised of major petrochemical companies including Exxon, Mobil, Dow, DuPont, Chevron, and Phillips 66. (Exxon and Mobil merged in the late 1990s.)

The Society of the Plastics Industry also adapted the "chasing arrows" symbol — widely used by the environmental community — that assigns numerals to identify the plastic resin from which the product was made. The symbol was successfully promoted to state governments as a “coding system” to be adopted in lieu of restrictions like plastic bans, deposit laws, and mandatory recycling standards, even if there was no way to economically recycle the products, according to Bonta.

The successful campaigning by the industry "led to the current misunderstanding by a majority of Americans that any plastic bearing the symbol can be recycled," Bonta's office said.

In 2021, the California Legislature responded to the allegations by adopting Senate Bill 343, which mandates that the chasing arrows symbol can only be used if there is substantial proof that a product is not environmentally harmful. The bill was signed into law by Gov. Gavin Newsom in October.

Matthew Kastner, a spokesperson for the American Chemistry Council, which represents the plastics and petrochemical industry, told Reuters, that, in response to the investigation, "America’s plastic makers are committed to a more sustainable future and have proposed comprehensive and bold actions at the state, federal, and international levels."

In 2020, reporting by NPR revealed internal documents dating back as far as the 1970s confirmed that industry executives were warned recycling was “infeasible” and there was “serious doubt” plastic recycling could "ever be made viable on an economic basis," Bonta's office said.

"In reality, despite the industry’s decades-long recycling campaign, the vast majority of plastic products, by design, cannot be recycled and the U.S. plastic recycling rate has never broken 9 percent. The remaining 91 percent is landfilled, incinerated, or otherwise released into the environment," the attorney general's office said.

Despite fossil fuels continuing to be replaced by clean energy sources, Bonta contends fossil fuel and petrochemical companies are investing billions of dollars to expand plastic production worldwide.

"The plastics industry continues to push the myth of broad-based plastic recycling as a tidy solution to the plastics crisis — with a modern twist. In addition to supporting traditional recycling, the plastics industry is advocating for more advanced recycling, also known as chemical recycling," according to Bonta's office.

Advanced recycling is the process of converting plastic waste into chemical building blocks, like what ExxonMobil is doing. Bonta argues that relying on the technology to solve the problem is not economically scalable — "the same problem traditional recycling has struggled with for decades," his office said.

"Further, many of the industry’s advanced recycling projects do not actually convert plastic waste into plastic products. Rather, they convert plastic waste into materials such as fuels. Even the plastics industry acknowledges that it is unclear whether and when advanced recycling would 'close the loop,'" according to the attorney general's office.

Every year, millions of tons of plastic enter the ocean — the pollution is expected to triple by 2040. Oceana, the largest international advocacy organization dedicated solely to ocean conservation, released a statement Thursday applauding Bonta's investigation.

"We've been duped for over 50 years by the plastics industry's multimillion-dollar PR campaigns, which wrongfully blamed individuals instead of companies for the plastic pollution crisis and falsely touted recycling as a panacea when industry executives knew better. The deception behind the plastics industry's recycling promise is evident on California's shores and streets, where plastic takeout containers, utensils, and more taint the beauty of the state and threaten its coastal economy and its people," said Christy Leavitt, Oceana plastics campaign director. "Oceana applauds Attorney General Rob Bonta for launching an investigating into the misleading tactics that plastic producers have used to line their pockets while jeopardizing our oceans and communities."

Bonta's office said the state spends an estimated half a billion dollars each year in plastics clean-up and prevention, and he warned that plastic waste harms California wildlife and its people.

Plastic does not fully degrade but instead breaks down into smaller pieces called microplastics.

"Microplastics have been found in our drinking water, our food, and even the air we breathe. Just this year, two studies found microplastics in human blood and living lung tissues for the first time. Over the course of their lifetime, the average person will unknowingly consume more than 40 pounds of plastic," according to Bonta's office.

The attorney general also called the plastic manufacturing process "highly hazardous, with the pollution burden being primarily borne by low-income communities and communities of color."

"The plastic industry’s greenhouse gas emissions are expected to surpass those of coal-fired power in the United States by 2030. While California has aggressive programs in place to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and transition to a clean economy, plastic production remains on the rise, threatening state climate goals and exacerbating the impacts of the climate crisis," according to Bonta's office.

No timeline was provided for the investigation, which Bonta said will determine whether petrochemical companies violated the law. A civil lawsuit could potentially seek fines or damages, but Bonta told The Washington Post that his main goal is a legal order or a settlement requiring companies to clean up plastic waste, make plastics manufacturing changes and promote “non-deceptive ways of talking about plastics.”

“We’re really looking at the underlying issue of non-recyclability, essentially, of plastics, and that is a major problem,” Bonta told the newspaper. “And we’re investigating whether that was fueled by a decades-old campaign of deception.”

Editor's note: This story has been updated with an emailed statement from ExxonMobil.