LOS ANGELES – Los Angeles County takes on Pepsi and Coca-Cola for their role in plastic pollution.

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

“Coke and Pepsi must 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 impact caused by companies that engage in deceptive 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, with Coca-Cola taking the top spot for six years, according to global environmental group Break Free From Plastic.

PepsiCo produces about 2.5 million metric tons of plastic and Coca-Cola produces about 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 misleading when they represent packaging as 100% recycled or 100% recyclable.

The LA lawsuit said Coca-Cola and PepsiCo used “misinformation campaigns” to get consumers to buy single-use plastics, believing they were recyclable and less harmful to the environment.

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

The American Beverage Association, which includes PepsiCo and Coca-Cola, denied the lawsuit’s allegations about their plastic bottle recycling labels.

“The claim that our packaging is not and will not be recycled is simply not true,” group spokesman 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 washed into the land and ocean in California, and plastic makes up seven of the top 10 litter products found on beaches, the lawsuit says.

A big part of the problem is MICROPLAST.

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 life and fish, 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 consume about 5 grams of plastic each week from common food and drinks, and microplastics have been found in body tissues and organs. Although research is still limited overall, there are growing concerns that microplastics in the body could be linked to heart diseaseAlzheimer’s and dementia and other problems.

The suit seeks a court order to stop the companies’ “unfair and deceptive business practices,” as well as consumer refunds and civil penalties of up to $2,500 per violation.

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

New York State also sued PepsiCo last november for its role in creating the plastic waste that litters the Buffalo River, which flows into Lake Erie and supplies drinking water to the city of Buffalo.