Los Angeles County sues PepsiCo and Coca-Cola over plastic pollution
Companies accused of unfair, deceptive business practices
LA County calls plastic pollution a public nuisance
By Nate Raymond
Oct 31 (Reuters) -Los Angeles County has sued beverage makers PepsiCo PEP.O and Coca-Cola KO.N, accusing them of polluting the most populous U.S. county with plastic bottles and misleading the public about the environmental impact and recyclability of their containers.
The county in a lawsuit filed on Wednesday in Los Angeles Superior Court said the companies were contributing to plastic pollution with their single-use plastic bottles and were engaging in a campaign to deceive consumers into believing they were recyclable.
According to the Democratic-governed county's lawsuit, the companies did so despite knowing the plastic in their bottles cannot be recycled at a scale meaningful enough to offset the environmental harms of the containers, most of which end up at landfills or as litter.
The county contends the plastic pollution traced to products made by the companies constitutes a public nuisance that they must be forced to redress. According to the lawsuit, Pepsi and Coca-Cola should be required to pay penalties for engaging in unfair and deceptive business practices.
"Coke and Pepsi need to stop the deception and take responsibility for the plastic pollution problems your products are causing," Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors Chair Lindsey Horvath, a Democrat, said in a statement.
The companies did not immediately respond to a request for comment on Thursday. In response to similar lawsuits in the past, they have denied making misleading statements and have said they were working toward environmental sustainability.
The case marks the latest in a string of lawsuits by U.S. state and local governments and environmental advocates against companies that make and market plastics.
Pepsi is currently fighting a plastic pollution lawsuit filed by New York's attorney general last year, and California's attorney general in September similarly sued oil company Exxon Mobil XOM.N, which produces polymers, which are used to make single-use plastic. Both attorneys general are Democrats.
An appeals court in Washington, D.C., in August revived a lawsuit filed in 2020 by the environmental group Earth Island Institute accusing Coca-Cola of misleading consumers into believing its business was environmentally sustainable.
More than 400 million tons of plastic waste is produced globally every year, with less than 10% of it being recycled, according to the UN Environment Programme, choking landfills and despoiling oceans.
According to the new lawsuit, plastic accounted for 246,124 tons of all waste materials produced by residences in Los Angeles County in 2024 and 628,211 tons of all commercial waste in the community.
Reporting by Nate Raymond in Boston; Editing by Alexia Garamfalvi and Will Dunham
Actifs liés
Dernières actualités
Avertissement : Les entités de XM Group proposent à notre plateforme de trading en ligne un service d'exécution uniquement, autorisant une personne à consulter et/ou à utiliser le contenu disponible sur ou via le site internet, qui n'a pas pour but de modifier ou d'élargir cette situation. De tels accès et utilisation sont toujours soumis aux : (i) Conditions générales ; (ii) Avertissements sur les risques et (iii) Avertissement complet. Un tel contenu n'est par conséquent fourni que pour information générale. En particulier, sachez que les contenus de notre plateforme de trading en ligne ne sont ni une sollicitation ni une offre de participation à toute transaction sur les marchés financiers. Le trading sur les marchés financiers implique un niveau significatif de risques pour votre capital.
Tout le matériel publié dans notre Centre de trading en ligne est destiné à des fins de formation / d'information uniquement et ne contient pas – et ne doit pas être considéré comme contenant – des conseils et recommandations en matière de finance, de fiscalité des investissements ou de trading, ou un enregistrement de nos prix de trading ou une offre, une sollicitation, une transaction à propos de tout instrument financier ou bien des promotions financières non sollicitées à votre égard.
Tout contenu tiers, de même que le contenu préparé par XM, tels que les opinions, actualités, études, analyses, prix, autres informations ou liens vers des sites tiers contenus sur ce site internet sont fournis "tels quels", comme commentaires généraux sur le marché et ne constituent pas des conseils en investissement. Dans la mesure où tout contenu est considéré comme de la recherche en investissement, vous devez noter et accepter que le contenu n'a pas été conçu ni préparé conformément aux exigences légales visant à promouvoir l'indépendance de la recherche en investissement et, en tant que tel, il serait considéré comme une communication marketing selon les lois et réglementations applicables. Veuillez vous assurer que vous avez lu et compris notre Avis sur la recherche en investissement non indépendante et notre avertissement sur les risques concernant les informations susdites, qui peuvent consultés ici.
