New York state this week appealed the dismissal of a pollution lawsuit against soda giant PepsiCo, accusing its single-use plastic packaging of posing a scourge on waterways and public health.
Just over a month ago a state Supreme Court justice threw out the case, saying that allegations were “speculative” and that individual consumers, not the company, were responsible for litter.
In a notice to the court’s appellate division dated Monday but made public Tuesday, New York Attorney General Letitia James said the judge who dismissed the case had “erroneously applied the law and facts.”
The appeal comes amid a major blow in the fight to curb plastic pollution after nations negotiating a global treaty to limit plastic waste failed to reach a deal earlier this month.
In her original complaint, James accused the soda company, which is headquartered in New York and is among the world’s top contributors of plastic waste, of harming the public and failing to warn consumers of the health and environmental threats posed by its packaging.
She also alleged the company had misled the public about the effectiveness of recycling of its products and its efforts in combatting plastic pollution.
The lawsuit pointed out that plastics “cause wide-ranging harms to the public and New York State,” highlighting the presence of microplastics in both humans and fish.
A survey by James’ office found that PepsiCo’s plastic packaging was by far the greatest source of Buffalo River plastic pollution, three times as abundant as the next contributor, McDonald’s.
PepsiCo did not immediately respond to an AFP request for comment. It welcomed the judge’s original decision.
Rival soda maker Coca-Cola, also one of the largest contributors to global plastic pollution, drastically lowered its environmental goals this month, effectively scrapping a pledge to reach 25 percent reusable packaging by 2030, and pushing back dates and amounts for recycling goals, among other reductions.
The United States and China are the world’s largest producers of plastic.
