Suit says companies lying by claiming their bottles are “100 Percent Recyclable”
Millions of us buy water in plastic bottles every day, apparently falsely believing that we are helping the environment by using recyclable bottles.
But, a June 16 suit brought in a California federal court says many bottlers’ claims of “100% recyclable” are simply false.
The suit – which seeks to be declared as class action – is directly aimed at claims by Coca-Cola Company, Nestlé Waters successor BlueTriton Brands and Niagara Bottling and their products:
Dasani, Arrowhead, Poland Springs, Ozarka, Deer Park, Niagara, Costco Kirkland, Save Mart Sunny Select, and Save Mart Market Essentials.
The suit says that the water bottle caps and “plastic labels on the bottles are not recyclable and cannot be processed into usable material.”
While that may not sound like a big deal, consider that Americans drink more than 70 million water bottles every day.
“Defendants’ single-use plastics are damaging the environment even when consumers properly dispose of the bottles in a recycling bins,” says the suit.
“If consumers knew the truth, they could make more informed decisions about consuming products that are truly sustainable. Defendants’ representations that the Products are recyclable are material, false, misleading, and likely to deceive members of the public.”
The issue began, the suit says, when China in 2018 implemented a plastic recycling import ban on most plastic waste exported from the United States, calling it the “National Sword” policy. Up until then, China was the primary dumping ground for plastic waste.
“In the wake of National Sword, municipalities have been forced to find new ways to manage plastic recycling. In most cases, they have been forced to burn or incinerate plastics because there is no longer a foreign market for the overwhelming majority of plastic sent for recycling.”
In response, organizations such as the Sierra Club and Greenpeace urged the public to stop buying single-use water bottles and buy reusable bottles instead.
Fearful that the message would get through and the public cut back on buying their water bottles, the manufacturers started their own campaign claiming their bottles did not harm the environment.
“Defendants and other plastic bottlers countered with the “Every Bottle Back” initiative.
“Central to this marketing campaign is the claim “100% Recyclable,” which Defendants affix to their single-use plastic water bottles.”
“Defendants produce more than 100 billion single-use plastic bottles every year – or 3,400 a second.
“Over 60 million plastic bottles end up in landfills or incinerators each day. Incineration of plastic releases large quantities of greenhouse gases and toxic air emissions.
“Over 12 million tons of plastic enters the ocean each year. As consumers have become increasingly aware of the problems associated with plastic pollution, many consumers actively seek to purchase products that are either compostable or recyclable to divert such waste from waterways, oceans, their communities, landfills, and incinerators.
