BERKELEY – A lawsuit filed last week by environmental groups who want some of the world's largest food, beverage and consumer products manufacturers pay for cleaning up millions of tons of plastics in the earth's oceans and other waterways won't be the last, the head of one of those groups said.
"This is the first of what I believe will be a wave of lawsuits seeking to hold the plastics industry accountable for the unprecedented mess in our oceans," Berkeley-based nonprofit Earth Island Institute Board President Josh Floum said in a press conference at the Ecology Center Thursday. "These plastics peddlers knew that our nation’s disposal and recycling capabilities would be overrun, and their products would end up polluting our waterways."
Earth Institute joined with other environmental groups to file suit the previous day in San Mateo County Superior Court, alleging among other things violations under California Consumers Legal Remedies Act, public nuisance, breach of express warranty, defective product liability and negligence.
The plaintiff environmental groups ask the court to order defendant companies to reduce plastic production and pay for a worldwide cleanup of plastics in the world's waterways.
The lawsuit also asks for a court order directing defendant companies to no longer imply that the plastic containers that hold their products will be recycled until resources are available for that recycling.
The environmental groups also are asking for unspecified compensatory damages and legal fees.
Named defendants in the case are Crystal Geyser Water Company; The Clorox Company; The Coca-Cola Company; Pepsico, Inc.; Nestlé USA, Inc.; Mars, Incorporated; Danone North America; Mondelez International, Inc.; Colgate-Palmolive Company; and The Procter & Gamble Company.
Earth Island Institute's portion of the lawsuit was in its own right and on behalf of Plastic Pollution Coalition, International Marine Mammal Project, Shark Stewards and 1000 Fountains.
The lawsuit was filed on behalf of the environmental groups by the Burlingame litigation and trail law firm Cotchett, Pitre, & McCarthy.
The lawsuit came about two weeks after four Democrat congressional representatives, including U.S. Rep. Alan Lowenthal from Long Beach, introduced the Break Free From Plastic Pollution Act of 2020. The legislation would, among other things, phase out "unnecessary single-use plastic products," reduce wasteful packaging "and reform our broken waste and recycling collection system," Lowenthal said in a news release issued Feb. 11.
In practical terms, the act would lead to the creation of a nationwide beverage container redemption program, place a ban on some single-use plastic items and force greater use of recycled material in the manufacture of plastic bottles and containers.
The legislation also would "hold corporations accountable for wasteful products," the news release said.
“Our legislation applies one of the core principles of environmental law: 'the polluter pays'," Lowenthal said in his news release. "It is time for multi-billion-dollar companies to step up and cover the costs of cleaning up the waste from their products."
The legislation also is co-sponsored by U.S. Sen. Tom Udall (D-New Mexico), U.S. Sen. Jeff Merkley (D-Oregon) and U.S. Rep. Katherine Clark (D-Massachusetts).
In a statement issued shortly after the lawsuit was filed, the American Beverage Association, which represents U.S. non-alcoholic beverage industry members including Coke and Pepsi, conceded that plastics in the world's water ways is a problem.
However, it isn't only a manufacturer's problem to solve, the association said in its statement.
"Plastic waste is a worldwide problem that demands thoughtful solutions," the statement said. "America’s beverage companies are already taking action to address the issue by reducing our use of new plastic, investing to increase the collection of our bottles so they can be remade into new bottles as intended, and collaborating with legislators and third-party experts to achieve meaningful policy resolutions."