The first case in history: Coca-Cola and Pepsi were sued for plastic pollution

This month, California environmental groups sued large companies such as Coca-Cola, Pepsi and Nestl é on the grounds that they caused a "public hazard" of plastic pollution and misled consumers about plastic recyclability.

The lawsuit, filed on Wednesday in San Mateo County Superior Court, argued that the companies sold plastic bottles and bags that would eventually pollute the ocean and that they were responsible for damaging the environment.

The Earth Island Research Institute (Earth Island Institute), which filed the lawsuit, said that a large portion of the 8m-20 million tonnes of plastic flowing into the earth's oceans each year can be traced back to a few companies that rely heavily on disposable plastic packaging.

The lawsuit seeks compensation from these companies to remedy the damage caused by plastic pollution to the earth and the oceans. It also requires that if the products produced by these companies are essentially non-recyclable, they should stop promoting products as "recyclable".

"these companies should be held responsible for destroying our ecosystems with plastics," said David Phillips, executive director of the Earth Island Research Institute. "they know very well that these things will not be recycled, even though they tell people on the label that it is recyclable and make people feel that it has been properly disposed of."

Last year, a global audit of garbage brands was conducted by 72000 volunteers in collaboration with the environmental group Break Free From Plastic, and the 10 companies sued by the lawsuit are basically the producers of the most plastic waste collected in the beach. These companies are Coca-Cola, Pepsi, Nestl é, Colorado, Crystal Alpine Spring, Mars, Danone, Mondelez International, Colgate-Palmolive and Procter & Gamble.

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"plastic waste is a worldwide problem that requires deliberate solutions," said William M Dermody Jr, a spokesman for the American Beverage Association, which represents Coca-Cola, Pepsi and other non-alcoholic beverage manufacturers. "Beverage companies in the United States have taken action to solve this problem by reducing our use of new plastics and investing in increasing the recycling of bottles so that they can be remade into new bottles as expected. and work with lawmakers and third-party experts to reach effective policy decisions."

Other companies, including Nestl é, said they were still reviewing the allegations in the lawsuit or were unable to respond immediately.

The lawsuit, which accuses companies of a "decades-long campaign to shift responsibility for the plastic pollution crisis to consumers", points out that, given the current entry of plastic into the ocean, plastic will surpass fish in the ocean by 2050. Consumers are led to believe that the planet will be healthy as long as it is recycled correctly, when in fact, most plastics have no market for recycling, the lawsuit said.

Past research has shown that only about 10 per cent of plastics are recycled, but Phillips says that if you look at the recent collapse of the recycling market, it may indicate that only about 5 per cent of plastics are recycled.

He said misleading information received by customers in marketing campaigns played down the harm caused by plastics, just as false information from tobacco companies played down the harm of smoking.

"this is the first of its kind," said Phillips. These companies must disclose how much they know about how little plastic is recycled.

Martin Burke (Martin Bourque), director of the Ecological Center (Ecology Center), which is responsible for recycling in Berkeley, said he was tired of hearing that some of the plastic collected in recycling bins in his city would eventually be thrown away.

"these companies have been telling people that these things are recyclable, and it's time to hold them responsible for polluting our ecosystem," he said.

Phillips said the lawsuit was not intended to dissuade consumers from recycling, but to make companies more responsible for the waste caused by their products.

"We are not attacking recycling," he said. " "We are all in favor of recycling. We just want the company to be responsible for the reality of all the plastic products they produce. "