Top Retailers Sued for Selling Illegal Plastic Bags

SEATTLE (Scrap Monster): An environmental group has sued two leading Californian retailers, accusing them for selling thicker plastic bags, which were claimed to be recyclable but could not be legally recycled in the state.

The Last Beach Cleanup filed lawsuit against supermarket chains Gelson's and Stater Bros. Markets on Friday in a state superior court, alleging them of violating the State’s recycling laws, contaminating recycling systems and causing pollution to the environment. As per the lawsuit, the plastic bags sold by the retailers had symbols that misled consumers into disposing of them in curbside recycling programs, but were not compatible to be processed by recycling facilities.

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According to Jan Dell, Founder, Last Beach Cleanup, the legal action targets to protect legitimate recycling efforts, save tax payer money and protect the environment from pollution caused by plastic shopping bags.

The environmental group noted that plastic producers and consumer goods companies have been making misleading claims about recyclability of bags. Recently, Keurig Green Mountain had reached a settlement with a California resident on allegations of false recycling claims on plastic coffee pods manufactured by it. Also, Last Beach Cleanup itself had reached a legal settlement with companies including Coca-Cola on charges of false recycling labels.