Plastic bags under scrutiny again. Is flexible packaging next?

Based on the muted reaction, it looked like California Attorney General Rob Bonta took the plastics industry by surprise on Nov. 2 when he challenged plastic bag makers to prove that they aren't misleading consumers about bag recyclability.

But it shouldn't have been a surprise. Maybe the timing was a shock, but we've known this was coming for a long time.

Nearly a year ago, the California Statewide Commission on Recycling Markets and Curbside Recycling sent a letter to Bonta saying that its review of recycling messages on bags and film turned up dozens of violations of state and federal laws.

The commission sent a letter to CalRecycle and Bonta on Dec. 3, 2021, giving 80 examples of companies selling flexible plastic packaging in California with misleading recyclability claims.

"Based on existing California law, it is our opinion that recyclable labels used on many plastic bags and films in California described below are not legal … and are contributing to consumer confusion and contamination," the commission wrote. "We write to request that California's existing laws on labeling of plastic bags be enforced."

The commission wanted bag makers to remove recycling symbols and messages on bags and flexible packaging that implied they could be recycled.

At the time, plastic bag and flexible packaging makers disagreed. They argued that the labels, including the familiar "How2Recycle" logo, are there to inform consumers about how to recycle the plastic film, not to mislead the public.

Bonta, obviously, does not agree, at least when it came to plastic shopping bags. And shopping bags are an easy target in California, because the state's 2014 law that banned thin plastic retail bags created a loophole: Stores could still use plastic bags, but retailers needed to charge 10 cents each for them, and they needed to be recyclable.

Making plastic bags recyclable isn't easy. Plastic bags aren't accepted in most curbside recycling systems because municipalities and materials recovery facilities aren't equipped to handle them. Many grocery stores have bins where consumers can return bags for recycling, but some of those bins disappeared during the pandemic.

Curiously, the American Recyclable Plastic Bag Alliance, which represents bag manufacturers, did not have an immediate response to Bonta's announcement. But two bag makers, Little Rock, Ark.-based Revolution Co. and Hartsville, S.C.-based Novolex, both highlighted efforts they've made to use recycled content in their bags.

Perhaps some retail bag makers will be able to make a case to California that they've made the investments necessary to make their products sustainable. If so, flexible packaging makers should be paying attention. After all, don't forget that the letter from the California Statewide Commission on Recycling Markets and Curbside Recycling wasn't just about retail bags. The letter pointed out that flexible packaging also used the How2Recycle label.

Recycling labels on plastic packaging have already been under scrutiny in California. A year ago, a lawsuit challenging mail-in recycling claims by TerraCycle Inc. and several consumer brands was settled, with the companies agreeing to modify product labels and implement programs to certify their recycling claims.

The Last Beach Cleanup, the environmental group that brought the suit, argued that under California law, TerraCycle programs could not be labeled recyclable because they could not be handled by curbside programs in the state.

Don't be surprised if flexible packaging makers are next on Bonta's list. Can they defend their labeling and the claims that they're making about recyclability and sustainability? If they're smart, they'll learn from the example of the retail bag makers, and they won't get caught off guard.

Don Loepp is editor of Plastics News and author of the Plastics Blog. Follow him on Twitter @donloepp.

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