SAN FRANCISCO (Legal Newsline) - The maker of Hefty brand trash bag products was pinned in a federal class action lawsuit as consumers allege recycling bags are not themselves recyclable.
The complaint was filed on May 7 in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California by plaintiff and prospective class representative Lisabeth Hanscom of Oakland.
According to the complaint, Hefty offers a line of trash bags marketed as designed specifically to handle recycling. The bags are heavy duty and transparent to make sorting recycling easier and less likely to end up in the landfill.
However, the bags are made from low-density polyethylene plastic, or No. 4 plastic, which is not recyclable, according to the complaint. The bags in turn are more likely to disrupt and contaminate the recycling stream and cause recyclables to end up in the landfill.
The defendant is accused of violating the Consumers Legal Remedies Act, false advertising, Business and Professions Code violation, fraud, deceit and/or misrepresentation, negligent misrepresentation, greenwashing under the Environmental Marketing Claims Act and unfair/unlawful/deceptive trade practices.
Hefty is owned by defendant Reynolds Consumer Products LLC.
Hanscom is represented by Gutride Safier LLP of San Francisco.