As waves crashed along the shoreline behind him, Californiasa国际传媒檚 attorney general in April announced he subpoenaed ExxonMobil, alleging the company helped cause a global plastic pollution crisis while it intentionally deceived the public for decades.

The oil company engaged in sa国际传媒渉istoric and ongoing efforts to deceive the public,sa国际传媒� attorney general Rob Bonta said.

While ExxonMobil denied the allegations, California said the company pushed petroleum-based plastic products while seeking to minimize public understanding about how widespread use could harm the environment and public health.

sa国际传媒淭he truth is, the vast majority of plastic products sa国际传媒� by design sa国际传媒� cannot ever be recycled,sa国际传媒� Bonta said.

B.C.sa国际传媒檚 Ministry of Environment didnsa国际传媒檛 answer Black Press Mediasa国际传媒檚 question on whether the province will follow Californiasa国际传媒檚 direction, but a spokesperson said they will continue to monitor the statesa国际传媒檚 actions. The ministrysa国际传媒檚 response also included a list of provincial actions taken on tackling plastic pollution, with several of those touting B.C.sa国际传媒檚 recycling systems.

But the latter is exactly where the problem lies, according to one University of Victoria law expert who says plastic producers pushed the concept of recycling so they could create and sell more products.

sa国际传媒淚tsa国际传媒檚 been a pretext for the plastic industry to produce more and more plastic, more and more plastic waste,sa国际传媒� said Calvin Sandborn, legal director of Environmental Law Centre.

Hesa国际传媒檚 no stranger to the industry using misleading tactics, as his UVic team helped bust Keurig for false claims the company was making about its coffee pods being recyclable. Their co-complaint to the Competition Bureau of Canada led to Keurig having to pay a $3 million fine, change its recyclable claims and issue a series of public corrections.

He also points to an NPR and PBS investigation that found oil and plastic companies knew in the sa国际传媒�70s that recycling wouldnsa国际传媒檛 work on a broad scale, but the concept would quell growing public concern around plastic waste. That report also cited internal documents showing those companies lobbied the majority of U.S. states to mandate that the recyclable triangle logo appear on all plastic items sa国际传媒� even if they couldnsa国际传媒檛 be processed.

Itsa国际传媒檚 that kind of deceptive advertising that California is targeting and Sandborn said Canadian officials need to look at it seriously.

sa国际传媒淚f the same thing has happened here, and I suspect it has, then the attorney general of British Columbia should be looking at potentially suing for the cost to government of running a bunch of recycling programs that may have been triggered by deceptive statements by the plastics industry.sa国际传媒�

It wouldnsa国际传媒檛 be unprecedented for B.C. to sue for costs it had to pay due to a companysa国际传媒檚 product, as Sandborn noted how the province took on the tobacco industry. In 1998, B.C. launched a lawsuit to recover tobacco-related health care costs stemming in part from the industrysa国际传媒檚 sa国际传媒渄eceptive promotion of their product.sa国际传媒�

Recycle BCsa国际传媒檚 most recent annual report said among its collectables, plastics are peoplesa国际传媒檚 main concern. In 2020, 52 per cent of the 63,000 tonnes of plastics produced were recovered, up from 46 per cent the year before.

Recycling should be the last resort after reducing and reusing plastics, Sandborn said. But the industry said the way forward is better recycling through expanding B.C.sa国际传媒檚 Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR) model nationwide.

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sa国际传媒淧lastics are critical to achieving our sustainability goals,sa国际传媒� Elena Mantagaris, vice-president of the Chemistry Industry Association of Canadasa国际传媒檚 plastic division, told Black Press Media. She referenced how plastics are needed for making cars more efficient or electric, as well as their uses in renewable energy infrastructure.

Costs falling onto municipal governments with constrained budgets have led to recycling systems being underfunded for decades, Mantagaris said. Recycling is needed to achieve a circular economy, she said, adding that the economy loses out on about $8 billion a year by landfilling plastics.

Putting extended producer responsibility programs in place across Canada would provide a consistent feedstock that would make scaling up recycling more economical, Mantagaris said. That and investing in new sorting facilities and advanced recycling technology sa国际传媒� sites that process flexible, multi-layer and new polymer blend plastics sa国际传媒� would create economic opportunities and keep items out of the environment, she said.

But drawing from how a federally commissioned meeting with major plastic executives went, Sandbornsa国际传媒檚 experiences would question how genuine the industry is about advancing recycling.

sa国际传媒淓very time we raised the problem related to plastic waste, the industrial response was sa国际传媒極h, well recycling will take care of it.sa国际传媒檚a国际传媒� When he brought up how robust recycling would need producers to do things like stop using different types of plastic in one container, he was met with pushback.

sa国际传媒淓verything is put off to recycling and then when you actually talk about doing something serious about making recycling work, then (the industry) says the public wouldnsa国际传媒檛 allow that,sa国际传媒� he said. sa国际传媒淢y response was the public would want us to deal with plastic waste and would probably go along with rules that made it possible.sa国际传媒�

Mantagaris said blaming industry for plastic waste and recyclingsa国际传媒檚 shortcomings is blatantly unfair because it never had control over the recycling system.

But Greenpeace Canadasa国际传媒檚 head of oceans and plastics campaign said oil and plastic companies have never been held accountable for the impacts of their products sa国际传媒� while using recycling to downplay health and environmental concerns.

Thatsa国际传媒檚 why Sarah King was encouraged to see the California subpoena. She said governments, oil companies and plastic makers all play a role in phasing out reliance on non-essential plastics and fossil-fuel-based products. King also wants the province to put a strong ban on sa国际传媒減roblematic, unnecessary and polluting plastics.sa国际传媒�

sa国际传媒淲e often think about the plastic pollution crisis as an over-there problem because the impacts arensa国际传媒檛 quite as visible, but the situation is dire in our oceans,sa国际传媒� King said. sa国际传媒淚tsa国际传媒檚 happening all along our coasts and across Canada, and at this point the number of species impacted is quite alarming.sa国际传媒�

B.C. is in a process of engaging the public on its plan to strengthen reuse and recycling, along with potentially banning specific products. King said that plan needs to be focused on reducing plastic production and prioritizing reuse instead of advancing recycling.

The Ministry of Environment had no further comment when asked about Sandborn saying industry used recycling to make consumers believe it would offset more plastic use.

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