Minnesota AG sues Walmart, Hefty owner over non-recyclable 'recycling' bags
Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison announced a lawsuit against Walmart and a consumer brand that makes trash bags that he claims are deceptively marketed as recyclable even though they aren't.
Reynolds Consumer Products, Inc. and Walmart are accused of "defrauding and deceiving" shoppers who purchased the bags believing they were suitable to recycle. The lawsuit says the bags come at the expense of the environment and recycling industry.
The attorney general's office said the bags create a multitude of problems, ranging from environmental to financial, if they are not disposed of appropriately.
The products in question include Reynolds' Hefty brand "recycling" bags and Walmart's Great Value brand "recycling" bags, as pictured above.
Any of the bags that end up in a recycling stream at any material recovery facility (MRF) in Minnesota "can cause the sorting machinery to malfunction, cause fires, and result in unsafe conditions for workers who must crawl into the machinery to remove them," the attorney's general office said Tuesday. Items inside the bag also won't be recycled either.
The bags are made from low-density polyethylene, which can't be processed at any state MRF. Employees can also be harmed from careless or accidental deposits of harmful materials from the contents inside the bags, such as "needles, toxic chemicals or broken glass and sharp metals."
As a result, the bags raise costs for MRFs and taxpayers, undermine recycling efforts, and create more waste in landfills and waterways.
Eureka, a recycling nonprofit zero waste organization based in Minneapolis, estimates these bags and others like them that reach its recycling streams cost around $75,000 a year in lost productivity and lower revenue. The costs impact all residents that Eureka serves.
The filing says Reynolds and Walmart falsely claimed their bags are "perfect for all your recycling needs," were "developed for use in municipal recycling programs," will "reduce your environmental impact," that they make recycling "refreshingly easy" and "simplify sorting for municipal programs."
Ellison's office also accuses the two companies of being aware of the situation and their alleged faults, as in recent months they have revised language on the products.
“We Minnesotans love our natural environment and value our clean land, air, and water: that’s why we have one of the highest recycling rates in America. Reynolds and Walmart, however, are taking advantage of Minnesotans’ good intentions to misleadingly market so-called ‘recycling’ bags to us that can’t be recycled and actually harm recycling,” Ellison said in a statement.
“I’m holding Reynolds and Walmart accountable for putting their ill-gotten profits ahead of people, our environment, and the law. It’s my job to protect consumers and our environment, so I cannot and will not tolerate this kind of deceptive marketing in Minnesota.”
Bring Me The News reached out to both Walmart and Reynolds Consumer Brands for comment on Tuesday.
Source: Bring Me The News
