A judge in the New York State Supreme Court dismissed a lawsuit filed by the Attorney General of this state against the American soft drink giant PepsiCo at the end of 2023 on charges of endangering the environment and public health due to plastic pollution.
Judge Emilio Coliafuoco described the prosecution’s accusations as “mere speculation” in his decision issued on Thursday, a copy of which was obtained by Agence France-Presse.
He believed that this lawsuit is “nothing more than a political ideal,” in the absence of any law or legislative text that “imposes such a theory of responsibility or imposes restrictions on the type and quantity of plastic that can be used.”
Since 2019, the World Health Organization has been warning of the harmful effects of microplastic particles resulting from the decomposition of plastic waste in the environment on human health (immune system, respiratory system, endocrine disorders, and decreased fertility).
PepsiCo expressed its satisfaction with the judge’s decision. It said in a statement: “We believe it is best to direct our time, attention and resources (…) towards collaborative solutions.” She stressed that she takes “reducing the use of plastic and effective recycling seriously.”
A spokeswoman for Attorney General Letitia James expressed, in a statement to Agence France-Presse, “disappointment with this decision,” adding, “We are examining the options available to us.”
James accused PepsiCo, which is based in New York State, of “harming the population and failing to warn consumers about the potential dangers of single-use plastic containers to health and the environment.”
The lawsuit also claimed that the company “misled the public about the effectiveness of plastic recycling and its efforts to combat plastic pollution,” asserting that PepsiCo’s use of non-recycled plastic has increased over the past four years, even though the group asserted otherwise.
In his decision to dismiss the lawsuit, Judge Emilio Colaiafuoco affirmed that “any rational person can only believe in the necessity of recycling and protecting the environment,” but stressed that this “does not open the door to imaginary claims of responsibilities that are not helpful in addressing the existing problem.”
He rejected “the judicial system being full of unfair trials aimed at imposing penalties and catching any violations.”
Among what the Attorney General was aiming for through her move was to force the company to end these practices, in addition to cleaning up the affected areas and imposing compensation and various financial penalties for “damage to the population and the environment in New York.”
These prosecutions, which were described as “historic and pioneering,” were based on waste collection operations carried out in 2022 along the 15-kilometre-long Buffalo River in the north of the state that empties into Lake Erie.