Court Greenlights Landmark Plastic Pollution Lawsuit Against Procter & Gamble, Coca-Cola, PepsiCo and Major Consumer Goods Companies

State judge finds complaint alleges viable public nuisance claim based on corporations’ harmful impact on California residents

July 18, 2024 (Berkeley, CA) – Earth Island Institute, represented by Cotchett, Pitre & McCarthy, received a momentous court order this week allowing its landmark lawsuit to proceed against major consumer goods companies for allegedly creating a public nuisance from their plastic packaging, polluting California waterways with plastic trash.

Judge V. Raymond Swope of the Superior Court of California of the County of San Mateo denied the defendants’ demurrers seeking to dismiss the case, finding that Earth Island’s complaint properly alleged that the plastic producers could be held liable for creating a public nuisance based on allegations that they promoted their products as recyclable while knowing that it was difficult if not impossible to do so, and by doing so also contributed to a public hazard. After over four years of litigation, this major decision means that Earth Island’s claims can proceed on its merits toward trial in California.

“Through our work, we see firsthand the immense public harm caused by plastic packaging,” said Sumona Majumdar, Earth Island Institute’s chief executive officer. “And we believe corporations must do more than talk about recyclability when it comes to their plastic pollution along our waterways and coasts.”

Mark Molumphy, a partner at Cotchett, Pitre & McCarthy, and lead counsel for Earth Island, said, “Earth Island made a courageous decision to take on these corporate giants on behalf of California’s residents. This order brings us closer to addressing an environmental disaster that just gets worse with each passing day.”

Tyson Redenbarger of Cotchett, Pitre & McCarthy, who argued the motion, added, “The Court’s decision upholding the public nuisance claim was appropriate and important. Absent accountability in the courts, global plastic producers will continue to cause harm to California and its waterways. We look forward to presenting the case to a California jury.”

The lawsuit was filed in February 2020, in San Mateo County Superior Court in California. The case alleges violations of California’s Unfair Competition Law and Public Nuisance. The defendants previously tried to move the case to federal court but were unsuccessful. By overruling defendants’ demurrers, this ruling allows the case to proceed further toward the merits.

For forty years, Earth Island Institute, a leading nonprofit environmental organization based in Berkeley, California, has been developing programs and supporting projects that counteract threats to the planet’s biological and cultural diversity. Earth Island also plays a leading role in efforts to fight plastic pollution and protect our oceans, coasts, and marine life.

Earth Island has filed this case in its own right and on behalf of the following sponsored projects:

• Plastic Pollution Coalition, founded in 2009, is a non-profit communications and advocacy organization that collaborates with an expansive global alliance of organizations, businesses, and individuals to create a more just, equitable, regenerative world free of plastic pollution and its toxic impacts. The companies in the lawsuit are held accountable by the coalition, which serves as an industry watchdog, driving corporate change on single-use plastic. Together with members, Plastic Pollution Coalition has created or amplified hundreds of petitions, collectively representing millions of signatures asking these companies to change their polluting practices.
• The International Marine Mammal Project (IMMP) is one of the leading groups fighting to protect dolphins, whales, and the ocean environment from plastic pollution. The ingestion of plastic packaging produced by the companies in this lawsuit often impacts the health of marine life. IMMP published a comprehensive report, entitled The Plastics Plague: Marine Mammals and Our Oceans in Peril, on plastic pollution impacts on dolphins, whales, seals, and sea lions that are dying from plastic ingestion and washing up on shores around the world.
• Shark Stewards works on the front lines of marine cleanup efforts and records observations firsthand of the ubiquitous presence of plastics that are trashing our shorelines and ocean environments, impacting fish and other marine life. The organization aims to help restore ocean health by organizing youth and participating in cleanup programs, by saving sharks from overfishing and the shark fin trade, and by protecting critical marine habitat through the establishment of marine protected areas and shark sanctuaries.
• 1000 Fountains is building a network of one thousand drinking fountains throughout San Francisco to provide consumers with alternatives to single-use plastic bottles. By providing San Franciscans with more drinking fountains, almost 300 million single-use plastic water bottles that are purchased annually can be eliminated, saving consumers more than $500 million per year.

Additional information about this lawsuit can be found here.

Contact:
Raquel Trinidad, Earth Island Communications Director,
raquel@earthisland.org