Los Angeles County sued PepsiCo and Coca-Cola, claiming the beverage giants misled the public about their plastic bottles' recyclability and downplayed plastic pollution and its negative environmental and health impacts.
"Coke and Pepsi need to stop the deception and take responsibility for the plastic pollution problems your products are causing," LA County supervisor Lindsey Horvath. "Los Angeles County will continue to address the serious environmental impacts caused by companies engaging in misleading and unfair business practices," according to the Associated Press.
Break Free From Plastic's annual audit report has identified Coca-Cola as the worst plastic polluter in the world for the sixth year in a row.
According to the report, which was released during the COP27 climate meeting, the majority of the world's plastic trash is caused by Coca-Cola, PepsiCo and Nestlé. The audit, carried out in 55 countries, revealed what it called an alarming levels of plastic output by companies.
The group claims PepsiCo and Coca-Cola manufacture about 2.5 million metric tons of plastic and 3.224 million metric tons of plastic yearly, respectively.
In November, a European Union consumer protection group filed a complaint against Coca-Cola, Nestle and Danone, alleging that the firms had deceived consumers by claiming that their packaging contained 100% recyclable or recycled plastic.
The lawsuit claims Coca-Cola and PepsiCo run "disinformation campaigns" to dupe consumers into buying single-use plastic, believing it to be recyclable and less harmful to the environment but eventually ending up at landfills.
The LA County lawsuit alleges that Coca-Cola and PepsiCo's plastic output poses an irreversible environmental threat and the companies warrant penalty payments for engaging in unfair business practices.
William Dermody, the vice president for media and public affairs for the industry trade group the American Beverage Association, said that "the allegation that our packaging is not and will not be recycled is simply not true." Coca-Cola and PepsiCo are represented by the group.
This lawsuit is the most recent in a series of legal proceedings against plastic producers and marketers that have been brought by states, municipal governments, and environmental groups in the United States, Reuters reports.
