LA County Sues PepsiCo, Coca-Cola Over Plastic
Los Angeles County has sued beverage makers PepsiCo and Coca-Cola, 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 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.