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California's attorney general sued ExxonMobil on Monday, alleging that the company had waged a "campaign of deception" for decades to mislead consumers and convince them that recycling was a viable solution for plastic waste. The lawsuit, filed in Superior Court of California in San Francisco, says ExxonMobil promoted recycling as a "cure-all for plastic waste," even though the company knew that plastic would be difficult to eradicate and that certain methods of recycling could not process much of the waste produced.

It further alleges that ExxonMobil violated state regulations over water pollution and misleading marketing, among others.

"Exxon Mobil knew that 95% of the plastic in the blue bin was going to be incinerated, go into the environment or go into a landfill," California Attorney General Rob Bonta said in an interview. "They knew and they lied."

In a statement responding to the lawsuit, ExxonMobil said that "advanced recycling" is effective and that the company has kept more than 60 million pounds of plastic waste out of landfills using the method. The term refers to chemical or heat-based recycling: processes that breaks plastic down to its basic chemical components for potential reuse.

"For decades, California officials have known their recycling system isn't effective. They failed to act, and now they seek to blame others. Instead of suing us, they could have worked with us to fix the problem," ExxonMobil said.

The lawsuit represents a new avenue in the legal fight to hold fossil fuel companies responsible for pollution and their aggressive marketing practices. In other lawsuits, state attorneys general and environmental nonprofits have sued oil and gas giants over carbon pollution and its role in climate change and extreme weather.

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