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The new lawsuit could face a hurdle over whether a California court is the proper venue for the dispute. California law provides for “public nuisance” claims, but oil companies facing lawsuits over their contribution to climate change have argued, somewhat successfully, that claims involving national and international companies should be heard in federal court.
The litigation levies an array of allegations against the companies, including public nuisance, breach of express warranty, defective product liability, negligence and failure to warn of the harms caused by single-use plastic packaging.
It suggests the list of defendants was drawn, at least in part, from an audit conducted last summer in 51 countries by one of Earth Island’s partner organizations. The study found that among the top 10 creators of plastic pollution were Coca-Cola, Pepsi, Procter & Gamble, Mondelez International and Colgate-Palmolive. The suit names those companies, along with Nestle USA, Crystal Geyser Water, Clorox, Mars and Danone North America.
The lawsuit describes Nestle as the world’s largest food and beverage company and Pepsi as the second largest. The action claims that the defendant companies collectively produce about 15% of all single-use plastic packaging.
Berkeley-based Earth Island Institute was founded by the late David Brower, the first executive director of the Sierra Club. The group helps incubate and fund other environmental organizations. In its lawsuit, it cites the widespread damage to the marine environment caused by an estimated 150 million metric tons of plastic.
