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October 31st, 2011
California Attorney General Files Suit Against Water Bottle Companies
California Attorney General Kamala D. Harris filed a complaint against three companies Wednesday for allegedly making false and misleading claims about their plastic water bottles' recyclability and biodegradability. The lawsuit is the first to enforce California's environmental marketing law, which makes it illegal to label a plastic food or beverage container as "biodegradable," "degradable" or "decomposable." The California Legislature determined that these claims are inherently misleading to consumers because plastic takes thousands of years to break down naturally and may never do so in a landfill.
According to the complaint, defendants Balance Water Company LLC, AquaMantra, Inc. and ENSO Plastics, LLC illegally sell or participate in the sale of plastic water bottles that are labeled or advertised as “biodegradable” and recyclable. Defendants claim that a microbial additive in the bottles makes them “the first ever 100% biodegradable and recyclable” plastic bottle and that the break down process completes itself within one to five years in any environment. According to the complaint, however, the microbial additive does not accelerate the breakdown process and also compromises the bottles' recyclability because the microbial additive is considered a "contaminant" and, where possible, such items are culled out from recyclable plastics.
This action is another example of the increased focus by the Federal Trade Commission and others on "green" marketing claims.
If you have any questions about the California Attorney General’s Complaint, please contact Jeffrey A. Greenbaum at (212) 826 5525 or jgreenbaum@fkks.com, or any other member of the Frankfurt Kurnit Advertising Group.
Other Advertising Law Alerts
What the Advertising Industry Can Learn from Kim Kardashian’s Settlement with the SEC
On October 3, 2022, the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) announced that it entered into a $1.26 million settlement with Kim Kardashian over her social media promotion of the EMAX token without disclosing payment she received from token issuer, EthereumMax. The matter provides important lessons for advertisers. Read more.
October 10 2022
Get Ready for California’s New “Automatic Renewal” Rules
California recently amended its Automatic Purchase Renewals law. The amended statute - effective July 1st -- require marketers to provide consumers of automatic renewal or continuous service offers with more information and easier ways to terminate. Read more.
June 22 2018
“Made in the U.S.A.” Claims Continue to be Scrutinized
In 2016, California amended Section 17533.7 of the California Business and Professions Code ("Section 17533"), liberalizing the standard for selling products labeled "Made in U.S.A" to California consumers. Read more.
June 4 2018
