Overview:
The plastic litter crisis exploded with the introduction of single-use containers and bottles. The waste typically ends up in a lot of other places besides the garbage can or recycling bin — including Black neighborhoods.
Since the first campaigns encouraging people to throw their trash in a can and not just anywhere, litter has usually been framed as a matter of personal responsibility. But with single-use plastic clogging waterways and drifting in huge patches in oceans, some governments want to hold to account the corporations that put all that inevitable waste in front of consumers to begin with.
That now includes the city of Baltimore, which filed a major lawsuit last week against PepsiCo, Coca-Cola, Frito Lay, and plastic manufacturers for what the city called “their significant roles in creating a plastic pollution crisis.”
Last year, the state of New York sued PepsiCo over the plastic waste that chokes the Buffalo River — 17 percent of which, according to the lawsuit, came from Pepsi products. The Baltimore lawsuit marks the first time that a major U.S. city has gone after corporations over plastic waste.
“We are continuously working to make Baltimore a greener, more resilient city that is ready to take on the climate challenges facing the entire world and one that prioritizes the health of our residents,” Mayor Brandon Scott said in a statement, adding, “…when bad corporate actors have harmed our City’s land and water, they must be held accountable – and that’s what this suit is designed to do.”
Similar to lawsuits against oil companies over the ravages of climate change, Baltimore’s plastic-waste lawsuit seeks unspecified damages against the companies and wants them on the hook for cleanup — including not only the waste that already exists, but future plastic trash too.
As plastic waste becomes a bigger and bigger problem, new research is showing just how extensive the issues it can cause are — including deteriorating plastics polluting soil and water and accumulation of microplastics in our own organs.
If you find yourself wondering, “Well, why can’t everyone make sure they properly recycle plastic bottles?” keep in mind: it was the Plastic manufacturers who made those first anti-littering campaigns in the first place. They wanted to make trash an issue of personal responsibility, not corporate liability.
Now, Baltimore’s lawsuit suggests that the tables may finally turn.