Greenpeace Has Ended Its Lawsuit Against Wal-Mart Over Plastic Recycling Labels

A high-profile lawsuit brought by Greenpeace against Wal-Mart over the recyclability of plastic packaging has now been settled. Because a federal judge rejected the environmental group's claim on procedural grounds.

The lawsuit, first filed in late 2020, went through a complicated process. But after U.S. District Court Judge Maxine Chesney ruled against it in early June, Greenpeace chose not to move forward, ending the lawsuit.

In its first complaint, filed in a California court in 2020, Greenpeace said Wal-Mart violated California's consumer protection laws by fraudulently labeling some of its own brand plastic packaging as recyclable.

But the case went through several twists and turns, with Wal-Mart successfully taking it to federal court in San Francisco in early 2021, where the judge ruled against Greenpeace three separate times but allowed the group to revise and refile each time.

In September, for example, Chesney ruled that Greenpeace lacked standing in the case, and the environmental group refiled its lawsuit.

After the last rejection on May 10th, Greenpeace opted not to file a fourth suit.

Wal-mart did not respond to a request for comment, but has previously called Greenpeace's lawsuit "baseless" and said it follows federal and state laws in recycling marketing.

The company has argued in court that Greenpeace's lawsuit goes far beyond what state and federal law require of retailers.

However, Greenpeace said the final decision in the case was largely based on technical issues and said Chesney's decision created an opportunity for other legal action.

"This case did not proceed, primarily for procedural reasons, but it is important to note that the court did not address the substance and merits of Wal-mart's recovery claims," said Jay Meisel, general counsel for Wal-Mart'S U.S. division. Greenpeace wants to work directly with Wal-Mart to ensure its practices are consistent with its commitment to recycling and reuse."

Howard Hirsch, an outside counsel for Greenpeace, said in a statement that Chesney's ruling was consistent with the environmental group's view that violations of California's environmental marketing laws can be sued under the state's Unfair competition law.

"In this way, this lawsuit opens the door for groups in California to hold companies accountable for their environmental claims," Hirsch said.

Greenpeace had accused the company of improperly labelling the resin identification codes on its store-branded packaging and plastics, including polypropylene, polystyrene and vinyl, as recyclable.

The group argues that not enough consumers in California can effectively recycle these types of plastics, meaning that claims of recyclability violate both FTC green guidelines and state law.