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LA County Sues Pepsi, Coca-Cola Over Plastic Bottles

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Thursday, October 31, 2024

LOS ANGELES (AP) — Los Angeles County is taking on Pepsi and Coke for their role in plastic pollution.In a lawsuit filed Wednesday, the county alleged PepsiCo and Coca-Cola companies have misled the public about the recyclability of their plastic bottles and downplayed the negative environmental and health impacts of plastic disposal. “Coke and Pepsi need to stop the deception and take responsibility for the plastic pollution problems your products are causing," LA County supervisor Lindsey Horvath said in a statement. "Los Angeles County will continue to address the serious environmental impacts caused by companies engaging in misleading and unfair business practices.”Coca-Cola owns brands like Dasani, Fanta, Sprite, Vitamin Water, and Smartwater, while PepsiCo owns Gatorade, Aquafina, Mountain Dew, and more. The two companies have been ranked as the world's top plastic polluters for five consecutive years, and Coca-Cola has taken the number one spot for six years, according to global environmental group Break Free From Plastic.PepsiCo produces approximately 2.5 million metric tons of plastic and Coca-Cola produces approximately 3.224 million metric tons of plastic annually, according to Break Free from Plastic.A European Union consumer protection group and environmental organizations filed a legal complaint against Coca-Cola, Nestle, and Danone last November, accusing them of being misleading when representing packaging as 100% recycled or 100% recyclable.The LA lawsuit said Coca-Cola and PepsiCo have employed “disinformation campaigns” for consumers to purchase single-use plastic, believing them to be recyclable and less harmful to the environment.It alleged that both companies promised to create a “circular economy” for its bottles, in which plastic bottles can be recycled and reused an endless number of times, while in reality plastic bottles can only be recycled once, if at all.The American Beverage Association, which PepsiCo and Coca-Cola are a part of, denied the lawsuit’s accusations about their plastic bottle recycling labels.“The allegation that our packaging is not and will not be recycled is simply not true,” the group’s spokesperson William Dermody said in a statement.Dermody said California had a 71% bottle recycling rate in 2023, one of the highest in the country, and that their bottles are “designed to be recycled and remade and can include up to 100% recycled plastic.” In 2022 alone, an estimated 121,324 to 179,656 tons of plastic waste leaked into the land and ocean in California, and plastics make up seven of the top 10 litter products found on beaches, the lawsuit states. Plastics that have leaked into the environment eventually disintegrate into tiny pieces of plastic measuring five millimeters or less. They can affect soil and plant growth, marine and fish life, and are nearly impossible to remove from the environment, the lawsuit states. Some Australian researchers, on behalf of the World Wildlife Fund, calculated in 2019 that many people each week consume roughly 5 grams of plastic from common food and beverages, and microplastics have been found in body tissues and organs. Though research is still limited overall, there are growing concerns that microplastics in the body could potentially be linked to heart disease, Alzheimer's and dementia, and other problems.The lawsuit is seeking a court order to stop the companies’ “unfair and deceptive business practices” as well as restitution for consumers and civil penalties of up to $2,500 per violation. In February 2020, environmental nonprofit Earth Island Institute filed a lawsuit in California asking for damages and an order for Coca-Cola, PepsiCo, Nestle USA, Procter & Gamble and six other companies to clean up the plastic waste they should be held responsible for. New York state also sued PepsiCo last November for its role in creating the plastic waste that littering the Buffalo River, which empties into Lake Erie and supplies the city of Buffalo’s drinking water. Copyright 2024 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.Photos You Should See - Sept. 2024

Los Angeles County is taking on Pepsi and Coke for their role in plastic pollution

LOS ANGELES (AP) — Los Angeles County is taking on Pepsi and Coke for their role in plastic pollution.

In a lawsuit filed Wednesday, the county alleged PepsiCo and Coca-Cola companies have misled the public about the recyclability of their plastic bottles and downplayed the negative environmental and health impacts of plastic disposal.

“Coke and Pepsi need to stop the deception and take responsibility for the plastic pollution problems your products are causing," LA County supervisor Lindsey Horvath said in a statement. "Los Angeles County will continue to address the serious environmental impacts caused by companies engaging in misleading and unfair business practices.”

Coca-Cola owns brands like Dasani, Fanta, Sprite, Vitamin Water, and Smartwater, while PepsiCo owns Gatorade, Aquafina, Mountain Dew, and more. The two companies have been ranked as the world's top plastic polluters for five consecutive years, and Coca-Cola has taken the number one spot for six years, according to global environmental group Break Free From Plastic.

PepsiCo produces approximately 2.5 million metric tons of plastic and Coca-Cola produces approximately 3.224 million metric tons of plastic annually, according to Break Free from Plastic.

A European Union consumer protection group and environmental organizations filed a legal complaint against Coca-Cola, Nestle, and Danone last November, accusing them of being misleading when representing packaging as 100% recycled or 100% recyclable.

The LA lawsuit said Coca-Cola and PepsiCo have employed “disinformation campaigns” for consumers to purchase single-use plastic, believing them to be recyclable and less harmful to the environment.

It alleged that both companies promised to create a “circular economy” for its bottles, in which plastic bottles can be recycled and reused an endless number of times, while in reality plastic bottles can only be recycled once, if at all.

The American Beverage Association, which PepsiCo and Coca-Cola are a part of, denied the lawsuit’s accusations about their plastic bottle recycling labels.

“The allegation that our packaging is not and will not be recycled is simply not true,” the group’s spokesperson William Dermody said in a statement.

Dermody said California had a 71% bottle recycling rate in 2023, one of the highest in the country, and that their bottles are “designed to be recycled and remade and can include up to 100% recycled plastic.”

In 2022 alone, an estimated 121,324 to 179,656 tons of plastic waste leaked into the land and ocean in California, and plastics make up seven of the top 10 litter products found on beaches, the lawsuit states.

Plastics that have leaked into the environment eventually disintegrate into tiny pieces of plastic measuring five millimeters or less. They can affect soil and plant growth, marine and fish life, and are nearly impossible to remove from the environment, the lawsuit states.

Some Australian researchers, on behalf of the World Wildlife Fund, calculated in 2019 that many people each week consume roughly 5 grams of plastic from common food and beverages, and microplastics have been found in body tissues and organs. Though research is still limited overall, there are growing concerns that microplastics in the body could potentially be linked to heart disease, Alzheimer's and dementia, and other problems.

The lawsuit is seeking a court order to stop the companies’ “unfair and deceptive business practices” as well as restitution for consumers and civil penalties of up to $2,500 per violation.

In February 2020, environmental nonprofit Earth Island Institute filed a lawsuit in California asking for damages and an order for Coca-Cola, PepsiCo, Nestle USA, Procter & Gamble and six other companies to clean up the plastic waste they should be held responsible for.

New York state also sued PepsiCo last November for its role in creating the plastic waste that littering the Buffalo River, which empties into Lake Erie and supplies the city of Buffalo’s drinking water.

Copyright 2024 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

Photos You Should See - Sept. 2024

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Hundreds plunge in Chicago River for first official swim in nearly 100 years

Group participates in previously unthinkable mile-long swim after US made key progress to clean polluted riversHundreds of people plunged into the Chicago River’s chilly waters on Sunday as part of the first organized swim in the river for nearly 100 years, a previously unthinkable act in what was once one of the most befouled waterways in the world.About 300 people, some wearing wetsuits, jumped into the Chicago River for a mile-long looping swim on an early, overcast midwest morning, a feat made possible by the often unseen but crucial progress the US has made in the past half century in cleaning its rivers of toxic pollution. Continue reading...

Hundreds of people plunged into the Chicago River’s chilly waters on Sunday as part of the first organized swim in the river for nearly 100 years, a previously unthinkable act in what was once one of the most befouled waterways in the world.About 300 people, some wearing wetsuits, jumped into the Chicago River for a mile-long looping swim on an early, overcast midwest morning, a feat made possible by the often unseen but crucial progress the US has made in the past half century in cleaning its rivers of toxic pollution.“It’s overwhelming to see this happen, it’s unbelievable to see swimmers swim past us now,” said Doug McConnell, the main organizer of the event.McConnell, a Chicago area native and co-founder of A Long Swim, had been pushing the city’s leadership for more than a decade to allow a swim in the river, the first such event since 1927, having witnessed the blossoming urban river swimming movement take hold in cities such as Paris, Munich and Amsterdam.“Seeing that really planted a seed, and we are thrilled we are finally doing this and that it has got global attention – we had applications across the US and 13 countries,” said McConnell, who hopes this will become an annual event and spread to other US cities.McConnell didn’t leap into the water on Sunday but is an accomplished long-distance swimmer, having traversed the English Channel, which he recalls as “14 hours of getting slapped around”, and swam around the island of Manhattan, all in aid of amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) fundraising.“I think the water conditions will surprise people because it will be cleaner than they expect,” he said. “The psychology of so many Chicagoans was that the river is untouchable – this isn’t true and we are proving this today.“My grandfather grew up in Chicago and I think what his reaction to all of this would be because the river had an absolutely toxic reputation then. It was repulsive, absolutely untouchable.”The Chicago River has a long history of being meddled with. Each year it is dyed green for St Patrick’s Day and, infamously, in 2004 the tour bus of Dave Matthews Band released 800lbs (363kg) of human waste through a bridge grate that landed on top of a boat of mightily unfortunate sightseers traveling on the river.Indeed, Chicago initially grew by treating its slow-moving river as an unfettered dumping area. Sewage and other waste was routinely funneled into the river, including carcasses and effluent from huge slaughterhouses that clustered beside the waterway – to the extent that a section of the river is still called “bubble creek” due to the gas given off by the rotting sludge on the riverbed.The river became so foul, causing deadly outbreaks of cholera and typhoid, that the city took the extraordinary step in 1900 of reversing the river’s flow by creating a system of canals and locks, to avoid Chicago’s source of drinking water in Lake Michigan becoming poisoned. Today, the 156-mile (265km) river meanders from Lake Michigan through Chicago so its water ultimately empties into the Gulf of Mexico.“We treated the river like it was part of the sewer system, which haunted us,” said Margaret Frisbie, the executive director of Friends of the Chicago River. Riverside buildings typically didn’t even have windows overlooking what was known as “the stinking river”, with the ribbon of water shunned as part of Chicago’s civic fabric.“Until just a few years ago people would’ve thought it would be outrageous to jump into it,” Frisbie said. When Friends of the Chicago River formed in 1979 with a vision to restore the ecological function of a river that could be enjoyed by people and wildlife alike, “people thought we were crazy,” she said.Yet the 1970s was a seminal decade for environmental protection in the US, with the passage of the Clean Water Act and the creation of the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) – bringing new restrictions on pollution dumped into rivers, streams and lakes. Where once American rivers were so toxic they could catch fire, a new era had begun that would allow US cities to think more affectionately of their foundational waterways.In Chicago, the slaughterhouses shut down, new sewage and storm water infrastructure was built and teams of volunteers, as they do to this day, toiled to clean up trash.Dozens of species of fish returned, as did beavers and snapping turtles such as Chonkosaurus, an enormous, locally famous specimen sometimes seen lounging by the river.In 2016, a riverside public pathway was completed to knit the downtown area to its adjacent water, allowing Chicagoans in new bars and restaurants to gaze upon a river that is no longer a fetid soup, a place clean enough that people can now swim in it. On 12 September, it was announced that Friends of the Chicago River won an international prize in recognition of the river’s transformation.“So many people are on rental boats on the river these days – it’s heaving with people,” Frisbie said. “People want to work near the river, live near it, be on it. It’s remarkable to see people have that connection with it again.“This swim is emblematic of all the work we’ve done over the past 50 years to improve our rivers. It shows you can change the destiny of any natural resource and do some good. It feels that’s something we need right now.”America’s rivers may now increasingly be places of scenic recreation rather than industrial sacrifice zones, but this does depend on the vicissitudes of politics. The Trump administration is narrowing the application of the Clean Water Act, which helped ensure healthier rivers, and is similarly weakening rules on what coal plants and factories can dump in waterways. The bad old days may be a thing of the past, but ongoing progress isn’t guaranteed.“If the federal government retreats from enforcement, things could slide backwards,” Frisbie said. “It’s incumbent on cities, countries and states to be vigilant. Our river is beloved now – people want to use it, wildlife needs it, we need it. We want to maintain that rather than see it roll back.”On Sunday, though, few swimmers were mulling such weighty topics as they lined up in robes, serenaded by the skirl of the Chicago police department’s bagpipes and drum, before stripping and vaulting into the river, bobbling flotation devices tethered to their waists.Organizers had zealously tested the water in the weeks before the event, finding that the river was consistently safe in terms of EPA standards on fecal coliform – essentially, poo in the water. The river was scanned, too, for any potential obstructions to the swimmers.Among the participants for the first river swim in 98 years – all strictly vetted to ensure they could complete the course – was Olivia Smoliga, who grew up in the Chicago suburbs and went on to win a gold medal in backstroke at the 2016 Olympic games.Open water swimming is a different beast to the lanes of a pool, but Smoliga’s competitive spirit compelled her to speed around the river loop, even though it was not intended to be a race.“You have people throwing elbows there – you have to watch out for fingernail length, everything,” she said. “The fact they were able to clean up the river and do such great work, to have this full on race happen, is trippy. But it’s really cool.”

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Democratic Lawmakers Urge Trump to Drop Plan to Kill Vehicle Emission Limits

WASHINGTON (Reuters) -More than 100 Democratic lawmakers in the U.S. House of Representatives on Wednesday urged the Trump administration to...

WASHINGTON (Reuters) -More than 100 Democratic lawmakers in the U.S. House of Representatives on Wednesday urged the Trump administration to abandon plans to repeal vehicle emission rules.In a letter seen by Reuters, 102 lawmakers led by Representative Doris Matsui called on the Environmental Protection Agency to drop its aim to repeal all greenhouse gas emission standards for light-duty, medium-duty and heavy-duty vehicles and engines. "Repealing the vehicle pollution standards would hamstring this growing industry, killing thousands of good-paying American jobs and ceding the future of global automotive leadership to China," the lawmakers wrote.(Reporting by David Shepardson; Editing by Lisa Shumaker)Copyright 2025 Thomson Reuters.

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Sargassum expansion across the Atlantic is tied to nutrient pollution and ocean circulation. Its growth now affects ecosystems and coastal communities. Researchers at Florida Atlantic University’s Harbor Branch Oceanographic Institute have compiled a comprehensive review covering forty years of data on pelagic sargassum, the free-floating brown algae that plays a crucial role in the Atlantic [...]

Brian Lapointe, Ph.D., a leading expert on Sargassum and a research professor at FAU Harbor Branch, emerges from Sargassum at Little Palm Island in the Florida Keys in 2014. Credit: Tanju MisharaSargassum expansion across the Atlantic is tied to nutrient pollution and ocean circulation. Its growth now affects ecosystems and coastal communities. Researchers at Florida Atlantic University’s Harbor Branch Oceanographic Institute have compiled a comprehensive review covering forty years of data on pelagic sargassum, the free-floating brown algae that plays a crucial role in the Atlantic Ocean. For decades, scientists believed sargassum was largely restricted to the nutrient-poor waters of the Sargasso Sea. It is now clear that this seaweed has become a widespread and fast-growing presence across the Atlantic, with its expansion tied to both natural variability and human-driven nutrient inputs. Published in the journal Harmful Algae, the review examines the emergence and persistence of the Great Atlantic Sargassum Belt, an enormous seasonal bloom that spans from West Africa to the Gulf of Mexico. Since first being observed in 2011, this belt has formed nearly every year—except in 2013—and in May reached a record biomass of 37.5 million tons. This figure excludes the long-term background biomass of 7.3 million tons typically found in the Sargasso Sea. Linking nutrient enrichment to sargassum expansion The analysis integrates historical oceanographic records, modern satellite data, and detailed biogeochemical studies to better explain shifts in sargassum abundance, distribution, and nutrient balance. The findings emphasize the influence of human-driven nutrient loading on ocean processes and the urgent need for international collaboration to track and mitigate the impacts of these vast seaweed blooms. “Our review takes a deep dive into the changing story of sargassum – how it’s growing, what’s fueling that growth, and why we’re seeing such a dramatic increase in biomass across the North Atlantic,” said Brian Lapointe, Ph.D., lead author and a research professor at FAU Harbor Branch. “By examining shifts in its nutrient composition – particularly nitrogen, phosphorus and carbon – and how those elements vary over time and space, we’re beginning to understand the larger environmental forces at play.” Sargassum on a beach in Palm Beach County in 2021. Credit: Brian Lapointe, FAU Harbor BranchAt the start of the review, Brian Lapointe and his colleagues, Deanna F. Webber, research coordinator, and Rachel Brewton, Ph.D., assistant research professor at FAU Harbor Branch, note that early oceanographers mapped the Sargasso Sea by tracking surface patches of sargassum. They assumed the seaweed flourished in its warm, clear, yet nutrient-poor waters. This idea later presented a paradox, as mid-20th-century researchers went on to describe the same region as a “biological desert.” Resolving the paradox with modern studies However, recent satellite observations, ocean circulation models, and field studies have resolved this paradox by tracing the seasonal transport of sargassum from nutrient-rich coastal areas, particularly the western Gulf of America, to the open ocean via the Loop Current and Gulf Stream. These findings support early theories by explorers who proposed that Gulf-originating sargassum could feed populations in the Sargasso Sea. Remote sensing technology played a pivotal role in these discoveries. In 2004 and 2005, satellites captured extensive sargassum windrows – long, narrow lines or bands of floating sargassum – in the western Gulf of America, a region experiencing increased nutrient loads from river systems such as the Mississippi and Atchafalaya. “These nutrient-rich waters fueled high biomass events along the Gulf Coast, resulting in mass strandings, costly beach cleanups, and even the emergency shutdown of a Florida nuclear power plant in 1991,” Lapointe said. “A major focus of our review is the elemental composition of sargassum tissue and how it has changed over time.” Growth rates and limiting nutrients Laboratory experiments and field research dating back to the 1980s confirmed that sargassum grows more quickly and is more productive in nutrient-enriched neritic waters than in the oligotrophic waters of the open ocean. Controlled studies revealed that the two primary species, sargassum natans and sargassum fluitans, can double their biomass in just 11 days under optimal conditions. These studies also established that phosphorus is often the primary limiting nutrient for growth, although nitrogen also plays a critical role. From the 1980s to the 2020s, the nitrogen content of sargassum increased by more than 50%, while phosphorus content decreased slightly, leading to a sharp rise in the nitrogen-to-phosphorus (N:P) ratio. VIDEOThe story of sargassum over four decades. Credit: Brian Lapointe, FAU Harbor Branch “These changes reflect a shift away from natural oceanic nutrient sources like upwelling and vertical mixing, and toward land-based inputs such as agricultural runoff, wastewater discharge, and atmospheric deposition,” said Lapointe. “Carbon levels in sargassum also rose, contributing to changes in overall stoichiometry and further highlighting the impact of external nutrient loading on marine primary producers.” The review also explores how nutrient recycling within sargassum windrows, including excretion by associated marine organisms and microbial breakdown of organic matter, can sustain growth in nutrient-poor environments. This micro-scale recycling is critical in maintaining sargassum populations in parts of the ocean that would otherwise not support high levels of productivity. Influence of Amazon River outflow Data from sargassum collected near the Amazon River mouth support the hypothesis that nutrient outflows from this major river contribute significantly to the development of the GASB. Variations in sargassum biomass have been linked to flood and drought cycles in the Amazon basin, further connecting land-based nutrient inputs to the open ocean. The formation of the GASB appears to have been seeded by an extreme atmospheric event – the negative phase of the North Atlantic Oscillation in 2009 to 2010, which may have helped shift surface waters and sargassum from the Sargasso Sea southward into the tropical Atlantic. However, the researchers caution that there is no direct evidence of this movement. Moreover, genetic and morphological data suggest that some sargassum populations, particularly the dominant S. natans var. wingei, were already present in the tropical Atlantic prior to 2011, indicating that this region may have had an overlooked role in the early development of the GASB. “The expansion of sargassum isn’t just an ecological curiosity – it has real impacts on coastal communities. The massive blooms can clog beaches, affect fisheries and tourism, and pose health risks,” said Lapointe. “Understanding why sargassum is growing so much is crucial for managing these impacts. Our review helps to connect the dots between land-based nutrient pollution, ocean circulation, and the unprecedented expansion of sargassum across an entire ocean basin.” Reference: “Productivity, growth, and biogeochemistry of pelagic Sargassum in a changing world” by Brian E. Lapointe, Deanna F. Webber and Rachel A. Brewton, 8 August 2025, Harmful Algae.DOI: 10.1016/j.hal.2025.102940 This work was funded by the Florida Department of Emergency Management, United States Environmental Protection Agency, South Florida Program Project, and the NOAA Monitoring and Event Response for Harmful Algal Blooms program. Historical studies included within the review were funded by the NASA Ocean Biology and Biogeochemistry Program and Ecological Forecast Program, NOAA RESTORE Science Program, National Science Foundation, “Save Our Seas” Specialty License Plate and discretionary funds, granted through the Harbor Branch Oceanographic Institute Foundation, and a Red Wright Fellowship from the Bermuda Biological Station. Never miss a breakthrough: Join the SciTechDaily newsletter.

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