This is why business hates California. The openly socialist/crazy LA DA is about to be defeated by at least a two to one margin. Yet, he wants to go out as the biggest hater of the Rule of Law in American history. Now he is using your tax dollars to sue Pepsi and Coke, for their packaging. My guess is that the new DA will drop these lawsuits—but the County will be sued for filing frivolous lawsuits.
“According to the county in their suit filed in California Superior Court, plastic waste amounts to nearly 14% of all waste disposed of in California — and most of it ends up ends up clogging up county sewers and waterways, and leaching toxins into the environment.
LA county, represented by County Counsel Dawyn R. Harrison, says that Pepsico, Pepsi Bottling Ventures, The Coca-Cola Company and Reyes Coca-Cola Bottling have helped contribute to and even exacerbated the amount of plastic waste in the county.
“PepsiCo and Coca-Cola have been ranked as the world’s top plastic polluters for six consecutive years by Break Free From Plastic and yet they have faced little to no accountability for their plastic trash that litters areas around the globe,” the county says in its suit.
Note the County is using a whacked out, socialist organization as their authority. These are sick people—but this will add to the cost of Pepsi and Coke—now you know why California has a high inflation rate.
LA County sues Coke, Pepsi over plastic packaging
LA says soda companies are endangering public and environmental health, while also lying about the effectiveness of recycling to seem sustainable.
Candace Cheung, Courthousenews, 10/30/24 https://www.courthousenews.com/la-county-sues-coke-pepsi-over-plastic-packaging/
(CN) — Los Angeles County filed lawsuit Wednesday night against soda companies like Pepsico and Coca-Cola, claiming that their plastic packaging has contributed to public and environmental health issues in California.
The county also claims the companies have also deliberately misled Californians about the recyclability of their products.
“Los Angeles County is committed to reducing the use of plastic and protecting the environment,” said Los Angeles County Board Chair Lindsey P. Horvath in a statement. “Coke and Pepsi need to stop the deception and take responsibility for the plastic pollution problems your products are causing. Los Angeles County will continue to address the serious environmental impacts caused by companies engaging in misleading and unfair business practices.”
According to the county in their suit filed in California Superior Court, plastic waste amounts to nearly 14% of all waste disposed of in California — and most of it ends up ends up clogging up county sewers and waterways, and leaching toxins into the environment.
LA county, represented by County Counsel Dawyn R. Harrison, says that Pepsico, Pepsi Bottling Ventures, The Coca-Cola Company and Reyes Coca-Cola Bottling have helped contribute to and even exacerbated the amount of plastic waste in the county.
“PepsiCo and Coca-Cola have been ranked as the world’s top plastic polluters for six consecutive years by Break Free From Plastic and yet they have faced little to no accountability for their plastic trash that litters areas around the globe,” the county says in its suit.
Between them, two companies also own brands like Mountain Dew, Aquafina, Gatorade, Dasani, Sprite, Minute Maid and Fanta.
The county brings claims of public nuisance, unfair competition and untrue and misleading advertising against the soda companies, highlighting misrepresentations it says they made about the effectiveness of recycling and their own use of recycled materials.
As sustainability and conservation has become important to consumers over the decades, plastic packaging has become a major target, since it doesn’t naturally biodegrade and only breaks down into dangerous microplastics.
LA County accuses Pepsico and Coca-Cola of falsely pushing the idea of a “circular economy” for plastic bottles, where the recycled material can be endlessly remade into more packaging. This circular economy, however, is not realistic, as most plastic can typically only be recycled once before becoming waste.
“The self-described, never-ending and environmentally virtuous circular chain that PepsiCo claims it will create is in clear contravention to well-documented research and reality itself,” the county says. “Recycling simply cannot keep pace with defendants’ plastic production — or their false promises.”
According to the county, the companies have worked with the plastics industry to sidestep plastic bans by promoting recycling as a viable method for reducing plastic litter. They say the soda companies have also misleadingly advertised many of their plastic bottles as being made from recycled material, even when it isn’t the case.
“These campaigns are particularly harmful because they emphasize recycling — a solution experts have known for decades cannot work on a large enough scale — instead of tried-and-true solutions like reducing the use of plastic and investing in sustainable materials that can be reused,” LA county writes.
Along with their accusations that the soda companies are essentially greenwashing their plastic use, the county also says the plastic waste from the defendant’s bottles are becoming a nuisance to LA. The county uses floating trash “booms” that it says removes 1,000 tons of trash and 10 tons of debris from the Los Angeles River and cost around $2 million a year to operate.
Further, the county points to the public health and environmental damage plastic pollution have. Research has shown that runoff from plastic pollution can contaminate the ecosystem and create negative effects down the line for human and animal health.
Microplastics and nanoplastics have also become a major concern in recent years as more research has emerged showing they are nearly impossible to remove from the environment, affecting food production, exacerbating health risks for conditions like Alzheimer’s and cardiovascular disease and threatening marine animals.
The county asks for the court to mitigate the negative effects of their plastic products and to pay restitution and civil penalty of $2,500 for each person in the county affected.
California has previously taken steps to curb plastic waste; Governor Gavin Newsom signed a law in May that requires producers to cut single-use plastic and to use sustainable packaging.
Neither Coca-Cola nor Pepsi immediately responded to requests for comment.
