Exxon Mobil Corp. sues California attorney general for defamation over plastic recycling claims

SAN FRANCISCO — Exxon Mobil Corp. filed a federal defamation lawsuit against California Attorney General Rob Bonta and several environmental groups, months after Bonta sued the oil and gas giant alleging that it deceived the public for half a century by promising the plastics it produced would be recycled.

The Texas-based company said in its lawsuit, filed Monday in that state's Eastern District, that Bonta, the Sierra Club, San Francisco Baykeeper, Heal the Bay and the Surfrider Foundation conspired to defame it with statements regarding the efficacy of its plastic recycling technology.

“Together, Bonta and the US Proxies — the former for political gain and the latter pawns for the Foreign Interests — have engaged in a deliberate smear campaign against ExxonMobil, falsely claiming that ExxonMobil’s effective and innovative advanced recycling technology is a ‘false promise’ and ‘not based on truth,’” the company said in its lawsuit.

It seeks unspecified damages and retractions of “defamatory statements” from Bonta and the groups.

A spokesperson for the California Department of Justice called the lawsuit “another attempt from ExxonMobil to deflect attention from its own unlawful deception” and said Bonta looks forward to “vigorously litigating” the case.

In its lawsuit filed in September, Bonta's office said that less than 5% of plastic is recycled into another plastic product in the U.S. even though the items are labeled as “recyclable.”

As a result landfills and oceans are filled with plastic waste, creating a global pollution crisis, while consumers diligently place plastic water bottles and other containers into recycling bins, the lawsuit alleges.