Big Oil companies and plastic producers have known for more than 30 years that recycling is not a permanent solution, a new report has claimed. 

The left-leaning Center for Climate Integrity (CCI) found that companies including Exxon Chemical, and the Society of the Plastics Industry (SPI) have misled the public about recycling to avoid regulatory action and revenue losses.

The report claimed that the plastic industry has been aware that certain plastics are impossible to repurpose, but are mixed in with those that can, making sorting difficult and expensive. 

While the companies are said to have known about recycling was not economically or technically feasible, they have continued to push recycling in marketing campaigns that still exist today.

However, industry insiders have been sounding the alarm for decades, saying plastic recycling is 'uneconomical' and that it 'cannot go on indefinitely,' according to newly surfaced documents featured in the report.

CCI used existing research and internal documents from APC staffers, which are said to suggest that the plastics and petrochemical industries were aware of the recycling obstacles and how plastic impacts our planet.

Richard Wiles, CCI President, said: 'This evidence shows that many of the same fossil fuel companies that knew and lied for decades about how their products cause climate change have also known and lied to the public about plastic recycling.

'The oil industry's lies are at the heart of the two most catastrophic pollution crises in human history.

'When corporations and trade groups know that their products pose grave risks to society, and then lie to the public and policymakers about it, they must be held accountable.