Walmart has agreed to pay $1 million to settle greenwashing claims that allege the nation\u2019s largest retailer sold plastic products that were misleadingly labeled \u201cbiodegradable\u201d or \u201ccompostable\u201d in violation of California law.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe are pleased to resolve this matter with the California district attorneys and are appreciative of them as they have worked with us on this issue,\u201d a Walmart spokesperson told Environmental Leader in an email. \u201cSustainability is a priority for us, and we have been recognized as a retail leader in this space. We\u2019re proud of the enhancements we have made to help ensure that the products we sell to California customers are in line with the state\u2019s guidance on biodegradable labeling.\u201d<\/p>\n
The state law bans on the sale of plastics labeled \u201cbiodegradable\u201d (or labeled with similar language). California environmental officials have determined such claims are inherently misleading without disclaimers about how quickly the product will biodegrade in a landfill or in other environments where it may be disposed.<\/p>\n
The sale of plastic products labeled \u201ccompostable\u201d is also prohibited \u2014 unless the product meets certain scientific standards that ensure the plastic will break down in municipal compost.<\/p>\n
\u201cUnfortunately, Californians concerned with reducing plastic waste in landfills are commonly misled to purchase plastic bags and other plastic products based on marketers\u2019 unsubstantiated claims of biodegradability,\u201d said Alameda county district attorney Nancy O\u2019Malley, \u201cbut almost nothing breaks down in a landfill. That\u2019s why the sale of plastic products labeled \u2018biodegradable\u2019 is illegal in California and why today\u2019s settlement is a win for both consumers and the environment.\u201d<\/p>\n
O\u2019Malley and 22 other California district attorney\u2019s offices brought the case against Walmart.<\/p>\n
Under the settlement Walmart agreed to pay $875,000 in civil penalties and an additional payment of $50,000 to CalRecycle to fund testing of plastic products marketed to consumers as compostable or degradable. Walmart\u2019s recently purchased subsidiary, Jet.com, will pay an additional $15,000 in civil penalties.<\/p>\n
The judgment prohibits Walmart from selling plastic products labeled \u201cbiodegradable\u201d or with other terms implying the product will break down in a landfill or other environment. It also prohibits Walmart from selling plastic products labeled \u201ccompostable\u201d unless a scientific certification supports the claim.<\/p>\n
California\u2019s action against Walmart follows the Federal Trade Commission\u2019s ongoing crackdown on false and misleading environmental claims, including five enforcement actions that specifically address biodegradable plastic claims.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Walmart has agreed to pay $1 million to settle greenwashing claims that allege the nation\u2019s largest retailer sold plastic products that were misleadingly labeled \u201cbiodegradable\u201d or \u201ccompostable\u201d in violation of California law. \u201cWe are pleased to resolve this matter with the California district attorneys and are appreciative of them as they have worked with us […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":59,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_seopress_robots_primary_cat":"","nova_meta_subtitle":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[5572],"tags":[11270,12239],"supplier":[1931,690],"class_list":["post-40460","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-bio-based","tag-biodegradability","tag-compostability","supplier-federal-trade-commission","supplier-wal-mart"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/renewable-carbon.eu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/40460","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/renewable-carbon.eu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/renewable-carbon.eu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/renewable-carbon.eu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/59"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/renewable-carbon.eu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=40460"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/renewable-carbon.eu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/40460\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/renewable-carbon.eu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=40460"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/renewable-carbon.eu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=40460"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/renewable-carbon.eu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=40460"},{"taxonomy":"supplier","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/renewable-carbon.eu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/supplier?post=40460"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}