"For 50 years, the plastics industry lied about the recyclability of plastic, a 'campaign of deception' that deflected regulation and boosted profits while unleashing a tide of toxic plastic pollution, according to a pair of groundbreaking lawsuits filed Monday by the California attorney general and four environmental groups.
Taking aim at the world’s largest maker of single-use plastic polymers, the suits name ExxonMobil as defendant, though numerous plastic industry front groups are also named as supporting players … The two paired suits filed in San Francisco Superior Court follow an investigation announced in April 2022 by California attorney general Robert Bonta, and a separate probe by lawyers working for the Sierra Club, the Surfrider Foundation, Heal the Bay, and San Francisco Baykeeper. " - Sierra, the Magazine of the Sierra Club
Locally, the Plastic Pollution Prevention Team has seen this at play. FieldTurf and other Plastic grass sales representatives regularly say they recycle worn out plastic fields and that materials are not landfilled. In 2023 they went so far as create a “Chain of Custody” document purporting to show that plastic from Saratoga High School would go to Pecadero for reuse, but a parent from the LGSUHSD (Los Gato Saratoga High School District) followed worn turf rolls to a farmer’s field in San Martin where they were dumped and left. Santa Clara County officials tell us that the rolls were still present in San Martin a mere month ago, in 2024. Today the plastic is breaking down allowing microplastics to pollute the land.
