California takes on Big Plastic for selling nonrecyclable shopping bags
SAN FRANCISCO (CN) — The California attorney general filed a lawsuit against major single-use plastic bag manufacturers on Friday, after a statewide investigation found the sale of non-recyclable plastic bags violated several laws.
Attorney General Rob Bonta’s office filed a lawsuit in San Francisco Superior Court accusing plastic bag makers Novolex Holdings, Inteplast Group and Mettler Packaging of violating Senate Bill 270, California’s 2016 ban on non-reusable plastic bags. The suit also alleges unfair competition, false advertising and environmental claims, seeking penalties, disgorgement and injunctive relief.
Bonta’s office began investigating non-recyclable bag sales in November 2022. The probe concluded Friday with a settlement involving four additional producers — Revolution Sustainable Solutions, Metro Poly, PreZero U.S. Packaging and Advance Polybag. With court approval, the settlements will have companies stop selling plastic bags in California and collectively pay more than $1.7 million in penalties and legal fees.
“Through our investigation, we are bringing to light how powerful companies have broken the law and prioritized profits over our environment,” said Bonta in a press statement. “At the California Department of Justice, we have been unwavering in our commitment to exposing illegal actions at the root of the plastic pollution crisis — not just the environmental harm, but corporate legal violations driving it.”
SB 270 requires that plastic carryout bags sold in California be reusable and clearly labeled as such. The lawsuit claims the named companies’ bags violate the law because they are not actually recyclable.
“Even when consumers attempt to recycle the plastic carryout bags as instructed on the bags themselves, the bags are not recycled but instead generally end up in landfills or incinerators,” the complaint states. “Defendants knew this, but continued with ‘business as usual,’ selling billions of plastic carryout bags in violation of SB 270 and other state laws.”
Representatives for Novelex Holdings LLC, Inteplast Group Corp. and Mettler Packaging LLC did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
New requirements for carryout bags will go into effect in California on January 1, 2026, which allow only recyclable paper bags to be distributed by grocery, retail and other kinds of stores, after the governor signed the single-use plastic bag ban into law in September 2024.