Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison announced today that his office has reached settlements with Walmart and Reynolds Consumer Products, Inc. to resolve the Attorney General’s lawsuit against the companies for deceptively marketing “recycling” bags to Minnesotans that were not recyclable.
As part of the settlements, both Walmart and Reynolds will not sell those bags in Minnesota for two and a half years. If they decide to sell semi-transparent blue bags in Minnesota after that period, the packaging and marketing may not be labeled “recycling bags” and must be conspicuously marked, “these bags are not recyclable.” In addition, Reynolds and Walmart will disgorge a collective total of $216,670, which includes 100 percent of the profits they made from selling their deceptively marketed ‘recycling’ bags, along with the state’s attorneys’ fees and other monetary relief. Reynolds further agrees to establish anti-greenwashing trainings and a review process for marketing claims.
In June 2023, Attorney General Ellison filed a lawsuit against Walmart and Reynolds, the parent company of the Hefty bag trademark, for defrauding and deceiving Minnesota consumers through their marketing of so-called “recycling” bags. Those bags were not recyclable in Minnesota and rendered unrecyclable all materials placed inside them—even items that would otherwise be recyclable. Instead, items put in these bags ended up in the waste stream. Moreover, any “recycling” bag that made its way into a recycling stream at any material recovery facility (MRF) in Minnesota had the potential to cause sorting machinery malfunctions, fires, or unsafe conditions for workers who had to remove them manually.
A blog post by Minneapolis-based Eureka Recycling lays out these challenges in more detail.
“Minnesotans have one of the highest recycling rates in America because we love our clean land, air, and water. I’m pleased that Reynolds and Walmart...have agreed to stop marketing so-called ‘recycling’ bags to us that can’t be recycled,” said Attorney General Ellison. “Any other companies thinking about greenwashing their products...should know by now that I will not hesitate to hold them accountable under law.”
"We appreciate Attorney General Ellison...for their diligent efforts in holding companies accountable for these misleading practices," said Eureka Recycling Co-President Katie Drews. "Consumers genuinely want to make the right purchasing decisions but can be misled by false marketing claims."
Eureka Recycling offers tips about plastic bags on its website.
Attorney General Ellison encourages consumers with concerns about other so-called “recycling” bags or questions about recyclability to contact his office or their local material recovery facility.