ExxonMobil Sues Rob Bonta, NGOs, Alleging Plastic Recycling Smears

ExxonMobil filed suit in a U.S. District Court in Beaumont, Texas Monday, targeting California Attorney General Rob Bonta and an array of environmental NGOs including the Sierra Club over what it says are smears related to its advanced plastic recycling business. In addition to the Sierra Club, other NGOs named as defendants include Surfrider Foundation, Inc., Heal the Bay, Inc., Baykeeper, Inc., and Intergenerational Environment Justice Fund (IEJF) Ltd.

The lawsuit alleges that the “[d]efendants’ blatant misstatements and attacks on ExxonMobil’s character are targeted at ExxonMobil’s operations in Texas and are actively harming ExxonMobil’s reputation, as well as its contracts with existing and prospective customers.” The controversy is specific to the company’s advanced plastic recycling technology, which I wrote about here last May, and which has led ExxonMobil to become one of the largest recyclers of plastics in the United States. The company has invested billions in a second recycling unit at its Baytown Refinery in Texas, scheduled to begin operations in 2025, advancing its plan to raise its recycling capacity to 1 billion pounds per year by 2027.

Bonta’s Lawsuit Served As A Catalyst

So, why would the defendants, all of whom nominally claim to favor more plastic recycling, be opposed to any of that? Well, Bonta sued ExxonMobil in September, accusing the company of violating several state laws including laws against false advertising, water pollution, and unfair competition.

“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,” Bonta said when his lawsuit was made public.