Resin makers and a trade group representing them are seeking dismissal of a class action lawsuit alleging a coordinated effort to lie about recycling's impact as a way to drive increased use of plastics and make more money.
The petrochemical companies and the American Chemistry Council are answering a lawsuit now in U.S. District Court for the Western District of Missouri, which is a combination of separate suits originally filed by individuals in Missouri and in Ford County in Kansas.
"This case is about defendants' profit-driven decision to promote the idea to the American consumer that plastics are recyclable and better for the environment, when in reality only a tiny fraction of plastics are ever recycled," the original Missouri lawsuit states.
"Defendants' false representations regarding the recyclability of plastics led to increased production of plastic products, increased demand for plastic products, increased prices for plastic products and corresponding issues with the remediation of plastic waste, all of which have harmed the citizens of Missouri and other states," the lawsuit continues.
But the American Chemistry Council trade group and the accused resin makers — ExxonMobil Corp., Chevron USA Inc., Chevron Phillips Chemical Company LP, DuPont, Celanese Corp., Dow Inc., Eastman Chemical Co., and LyondellBasell Industries N.V. — are pushing back in their own legal filing.
"These claims make no sense and fail from the start," the motion states in its push to have the court dismiss the suit.
"Plaintiffs seek to impose liability on 10 defendants based on an innocuous and socially beneficial activity: the promotion of recycling," the motion states at another point. "Plaintiffs also fail to plausibly allege any agreement between defendants, let alone one that unreasonably restrains trade. There is not one well-pleaded allegation to support what defendant purportedly agreed to do," the defense states.
The resin makers also claim the plaintiffs do not have the right to sue because they do not allege "concrete, materialized injury."
The plastics companies further believe the class action lawsuit fails to "identify any actionable deception" or connect such deception with alleged increased plastic prices. Another defense is that claims are "time-barred," meaning the statute of limitations has expired.
The showdown in Missouri court comes at a time when the plastics industry is facing a similar high-profile case in California where state Attorney General Rob Bonta is going after ExxonMobil.
"For decades, ExxonMobil has been deceiving the public to convince us that plastic recycling could solve the plastic waste and pollution crisis when they clearly knew this wasn't possible," Bonta said in a statement when he announced a lawsuit against the company last fall.
But ExxonMobil, at the time, told the attorney general to instead look in the mirror: ""For decades, California officials have known their recycling system isn't effective. They failed to act, and now they seek to blame others," the company said at the time. ExxonMobil CEO Darren Woods also called Bonta a liar on a national cable news network weeks after that lawsuit was filed. The company also has sued Bonta and environmental groups for defamation.