The Fraud of Plastic Recycling

How Big Oil and the plastics industry deceived the public for decades and caused the plastic waste crisis.

February 2024 report by The Center for Climate Integrity , which they say empowers communities and elected officials with the knowledge and tools they need to hold oil and gas corporations accountable for the massive costs of climate change

For the full report go to www.climateintegrity.org

.INTRODUCTION Plastic pollution is one of the most serious environmental crises facing the world today. Between 1950 and 2015, over 90% of plastics were landfilled, incinerated, or leaked into the environment.

1 Plastic waste is ubiquitous—from our rivers, lakes, and oceans to roadways and coastlines. It is in “the air we breathe, the food we eat, and the water we drink.”

2 One study estimates that humans ingest up to five grams or the equivalent of one credit card worth of plastic per week.

3 Some of the largest oil and gas companies are among the 20 petrochemical companies responsible for more than half of all single-use plastics generated globally.

4 ExxonMobil, for example, is the world’s top producer of single-use plastic polymers.

5 Underpinning this plastic waste crisis is a decades-long campaign of fraud and deception about the recyclability of plastics.

Despite their long-standing knowledge that recycling plastic is neither technically nor economically viable, petrochemical companies—independently and through their industry trade associations and front groups—have engaged in fraudulent marketing and public education campaigns designed to mislead the public about the viability of plastic recycling as a solution to plastic waste. These efforts have effectively protected and expanded plastic markets, while stalling legislative or regulatory action that would meaningfully address plastic waste and pollution.

Fossil fuel and other petrochemical companies have used the false promise of plastic recycling to exponentially increase virgin plastic production over the last six decades, creating and perpetuating the global plastic waste crisis and imposing significant costs on communities that are left to pay for the consequences.

Big Oil and the plastics industry—which includes petrochemical companies, their trade associations, and the front groups that represent their interests—should be held accountable for their campaign of deception much like the producers of tobacco, opioids, and toxic chemicals that engaged in similar schemes. This report lays the foundation for such a claim.

• Part II provides an overview of the well-established technical and economic limitations of plastic recycling.

• Part III describes how—in response to repeated waves of public backlash against plastic waste and subsequent threats of regulation—the plastics industry has “sold” plastic recycling to the American public to sell plastic.

• Part IV outlines the evidence of the plastics industry’s fraudulent and deceptive campaigns, which are more fully detailed in Appendix C. Petrochemical companies and the plastics industry should be held liable for their coordinated campaign of deception and the resulting harms that communities are now facing. True accountability will put an end to the industry’s fraud of plastic recycling and open the door to real solutions to the plastic waste crisis that are currently out of reach.

V CONCLUSION By deceiving consumers, policymakers, and regulators about the viability of plastic recycling, petrochemical companies have ensured the continued expansion of plastic production, which has led to a plastic waste and pollution crisis for communities across the country. The costs of managing and cleaning up plastic waste are largely borne by municipal and state governments —and those costs are projected to increase exponentially in the coming decades, given that plastic waste generation in the United States is expected to increase from 73 million metric tons in 2019 to more than 140 million metric tons by 2060.234.

If not for the Big Oil and the plastic industry’s lies and deception, municipalities and states would not have invested in plastic recycling programs and facilities—many of which have been shut down due to foreseeable economic losses. The industry not only misled municipal and state agencies to believe that plastic recycling was a viable solution to plastic waste but also discouraged them from pursuing other, more sustainable waste management strategies (e.g., waste reduction, reuse, bans, alternative materials) in favor of plastic recycling.

Fossil fuel and other petrochemical companies should now be held accountable for their deliberate campaign of deception and the resulting harms, much like tobacco and opioid companies that employed a similar playbook. Based on the growing body of evidence, municipalities and states are likely to pursue litigation, which could put an end to the industry’s deception, make the companies pay for the devastating harms they have caused to communities, and open the door to real solutions that are currently out of reach.