Los Angeles County has filed a lawsuit against PepsiCo and Coca-Cola, arguing that they misled the public on recyclability and the impact of plastic pollution.
According to the lawsuit, reports Reuters, the county is filing a suit for public nuisance and violations of unfair competition law and false advertising law and is seeking injunctive relief, restitution, abatement and civil penalties.
In the lawsuit, the county argues that PepsiCo and Coca-Cola were intentionally misleading about the recyclability of plastic beverage containers, and the lawsuit alleges that the companies knew that the plastic beverage containers could not be thrown out or recycled without impacting the environment.
The lawsuit also stated that these two companies are some of the world’s top plastic polluters and alleges their plastic bottles have littered the county, accumulating on land and in waterways to threaten wildlife and public health and costing the county resources to clean up the mess.
Los Angeles County highlighted circularity claims by PepsiCo and Coca-Cola and argued that these claims were deceptive to consumers.
Meanwhile, on the other side of the Atlantic, the European Consumer Organisation (BEUC) reported to authorities over misleading recyclability claims by multiple companies, including Coca-Cola. That complaint argued that labels with details such as “100% recyclable” or “100% recycled” were vague or false.
“The reality is single use plastic is neither circular nor sustainable. Recycling can never catch up with the sheer volume of plastic produced on our planet,” Rosa Pritchard, plastics lawyer at ClientEarth, said of the BEUC legal complaint. “Companies are in a unique position to change how we consume but currently these claims - which we consider to be misleading - are making it hard for consumers to make good environmental choices.”