LOS ANGELES (Legal Newsline) - Class action lawyers are hoping to follow up on their initial success suing over recycling bags, claiming the term makes consumers think they are recyclable.
The firm Gutride Safier sued Walmart on July 1 over its Great Value-brand recycling bags, which are used to package recyclables but themselves can't be recycled. The suit says Walmart's bags are made of LPDE plastic and end up incinerated, in landfills or in the environment.
Last year, a federal judge let the same claim move forward against the maker of Hefty recycling bags, finding reasonable consumers could be misled.
"Defendant knows that the products typically end up in landfills or are incinerated and are a contaminant unsuitable for recycling," the Walmart suit says. "Defendant's representation that the products are 'Recycling' bags are material, false, misleading and likely to deceive members of the public."
The suit seeks an injunction that would remove the word "recycling" and the symbol indicating the recycling process. It also seeks compensatory, statutory and punitive damages that would be tripled.