The Center for Climate Integrity (CCI),ย which is funded by the Rockefeller Family Fund,ย published a report alleging that โBig Oilโ deceived the public for decades about plastic recycling. That report became the foundation for the latest lawsuit.
California Attorney General Rob Bonta filed a lawsuit [on October 10th, 2024] against ExxonMobil for allegedly misleading consumers about the potential for plastics recycling. According to Bontaโs complaint, Exxon made misleading statements that โadvanced recyclingโ could recycle all plastics, which the complaint says is impossible.
According toย Bontaโs complaint, Exxon made misleading statements that โadvanced recyclingโ could recycle all plastics, which the complaint says is impossible.
One would think that environmentalists would support plastics recycling, but apparently that’s not enough. Judith Enck, founder of “Beyond Plastics,” an anti-fossil fuel group, told theย Wall Street Journalthat advanced recycling is a โpseudo solutionโ and a marketing tactic to prevent efforts to stop consumers from using plastics.
Writing on his โEnergy Absurditiesโ Substack, energy analyst David Blackmon points out that Exxon is the largest recycler of plastics, and theย company is investing billions to build an advanced plastics recycling center in Baytown, Texas. Referring to Enck’s claims, โEven if that is accurate, the same could be said of pretty much every offshore wind project the federal government has spent billions subsidizing over the last three years,โ Blackmon wrote.
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Advanced recycling aims toย turn plastic polymersย back into their original molecules so they can be processed and used again as plastics or other products, such as jet fuel. According to an anti-plasticย ProPublicaย investigation, advanced recycling produces 15% to 20% usable plastic materials, while the remaining material becomes fuel and other chemicals.
