A court case challenging Canada’s ban on some single-use plastic items is moving through the court system and appears poised to head to the Supreme Court. | Pavel Kubarkov/Shutterstock
A federal judge quashed an order from the Canadian government declaring all plastics to be toxic substances, but the effect of the ruling is still unclear.
A lawsuit from New York State Attorney General Letitia James makes a number of allegations against PepsiCo, including failure to warn the public about the environmental impact of its products. | Pixinoo/Shutterstock
New York State’s attorney general is the latest to launch a lawsuit against a major brand over plastic, this time focused on pollution. Continue Reading
An image of Reynolds’ Hefty Recycling bag box from a lawsuit challenging the recycling-related claims. Reynolds Consumer Products says it has since made wording changes to the packaging. | Screen copy from court filings
Reynolds Consumer Products has agreed to change advertising language and pay up to $4 million to settle one of multiple lawsuits alleging its marketing of recycling collection bags is illegal. Continue Reading
This latest suit marks at least the third time Reynolds has found itself in a legal dispute over its Hefty recycling bags. | Anton Gvozdikov/Shutterstock
Reynolds Consumer Products faces yet another lawsuit over its recyclables collection bags, this time from Minnesota’s top legal officer. Continue Reading
More honesty in recyclability labeling could save brands the trouble of going to court – without costing them much in sales. | Ivan Alex Burchak/Shutterstock
After Keurig Green Mountain reached a class-action settlement in a case concerning the company’s K-Cup recyclability claims, the plaintiffs anticipated the brand owner would end up paying consumers $1.25 million.
Over 11,000 metric tons of film have been discovered since REDcycle, Australia’s largest film collection program, went under in 2022. | Canetti/Shutterstock
Three Australian supermarket chains will have another 12 months to address a plastics stockpile left over from the failure of the country’s largest film collection program. Continue Reading
The revised lawsuit comes after an Illinois judge in September 2022 threw out many of plaintiff Devon Curtis’ claims. | Tiko Aramyan/Shutterstock
A Chicago resident has filed an amended lawsuit against 7-Eleven, arguing that some of the company’s “recyclable” labeling is deceptive because the products lack resin identification codes. Continue Reading
Hapag-Lloyd Aktiengesellschaft took legal action against materials exporter Golden Trust Trading on March 18, 2022, after the shipping giant said it transported 33 containers of PET, PP and PVC film bales from Vancouver, British Columbia to Bangkok in spring 2019 that were rejected by the Thai government. | John Crux/Shutterstock
A federal judge ruled that a Burnaby, British Columbia company owes an international shipping company $4.3 million Canadian dollars over plastics shipments rejected by the Thai government, the second such suit brought against the company. Continue Reading
7-Eleven faces a lawsuit challenging recyclability claims on the company’s “24/7” brand foam plates, cups and freezer bags. | Sorbis/Shuttertstock
Brand owners can label plastic products as recyclable even if local residential recycling programs don’t want them, because reasonable consumers wouldn’t assume the word “recyclable” means there are local facilities that accept the material, a federal judge decided.
A judge determined the key issue was the availability of recycling programs, not whether bottles are made into new items. | Jonathan Weiss/Shutterstock
If a bottled water label and cap are effectively unrecyclable, and if statistics show a majority of PET bottles are ultimately wasted, can the containers still be labeled as “100% recyclable”? A federal judge recently said yes.