"L.A. County sues Pepsi and Coca-Cola over their role in ongoing plastic pollution crisis", 31 October 2024

Los Angeles County has filed suit against the world's largest beverage companies — Coca-Cola and Pepsi — claiming the soda and drink makers lied to the public about the effectiveness of plastic recycling, and as a result, left county residents and ecosystems choking in discarded plastic.

The suit is the latest in a series of high-profile legal actions California officials have taken against petrochemical corporations and plastic manufacturers. In September, state Atty. Gen. .. and a group of environmental organisations sued Exxon Mobil...

The Los Angeles County suit alleges — in a vein similar to that...suit against ExxonMobil — that the global beverage companies misrepresented the environmental impact of their plastic bottles, "despite knowing that plastics cannot be readily disposed of without associated environmental impacts."

"Coke and Pepsi need to stop the deception and take responsibility for the plastic pollution problems" their products are causing, said Los Angeles County Board Chair...

Neither company had yet to respond to requests for comment from The Times...

The suit seeks injunctive relief to "stop the companies’ unfair and deceptive business practices, restitution for consumers of the money acquired by means of the companies’ unfair and deceptive business practices, and civil penalties of up to $2,500 per violation," the county board said in a statement...