Exxon sues California attorney general, environmental groups for disparaging its recycling initiatives

ExxonMobil on Monday sued California Attorney General Rob Bonta (D) and a group of environmental activist groups, alleging they colluded on a campaign of defamation against the oil giant’s plastic recycling initiative.

The lawsuit, filed in the Eastern District of Texas, could signal a new legal strategy for the fossil fuel industry against environmentalists and their allies in government. It argues Bonta defamed Exxon when he sued the company last September by alleging it engaged in a decades-long “campaign of deception” around the recyclability of single-use plastics.

Bonta’s lawsuit accused Exxon of falsely promoting the idea that all plastics were recyclable. A report issued by the Center for Climate Integrity last February indicates only a small fraction of plastics can be meaningfully recycled in the sense of being turned into entirely new products.

ExxonMobil claimed Bonta’s language in the lawsuit, as well as subsequent comments in interviews, hurt its business.

“While posing under the banner of environmentalism, [the defendants] do damage to genuine recycling programs and to meaningful innovation,” the lawsuit states.

The complaint also names four national and California-based environmental groups, the Sierra Club, San Francisco Baykeeper, Heal the Bay and the Surfrider Foundation, who sued the company at the same time as Bonta’s office. It accuses Bonta’s office of recruiting the organizations to file the suit.

The lawsuit is another salvo in the company’s aggressive recent approach to critics after it sued activist investor group Arjuna Capital in 2024 over its plans to submit a proposal on Exxon greenhouse gas emissions. A Texas judge dismissed the lawsuit in June after Arjuna agreed not to submit the proposal.

“This is another attempt from ExxonMobil to deflect attention from its own unlawful deception,” a spokesperson for Bonta’s office said in a statement to The Hill. “The Attorney General is proud to advance his lawsuit against ExxonMobil and looks forward to vigorously litigating this case in court.”

The Hill has reached out to the other defendants for comment.

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