california vs plastic container label

California Versus Plastic Container Labels

What could get Californias Attorney General Kamala D. Harris so riled up? Falsifying claims
about biodegradability, thats what. It seems a few plastic bottle manufactures are misleading
consumers by deliberately labeling bottles as biodegradable which violates state law.
The Attorney General filed a lawsuit in Orange County Superior Court on Oct. 26 against ENSO
Plastics LLC of Mesa, Ariz., and two companies that sell water in ENSO bottles, Balance Water
based in West Orange, N.J. and AquaMantra based in Dana Point, Calif. The three companies are
cited for falsely marking plastic bottles as 100 percent biodegradable and recyclable when they
are not.
Within Harris suit, she states:
The People bring this action against companies that are falsely or deceptively labeling and/or
marketing plastic beverage containers as biodegradable and recyclable, in violation of
California law. The advertising and marketing practices of these companies are misleading to
California consumers and businesses, and potentially harmful to the environment.
Harris is taking this violation seriously as does the entire newly green state. In 2008, the state
Legislature implemented the environmental law, banning the use of marketing words
biodegradable, degradable or compostable on any plastic food or beverage container
labels. The state insists that it is illegal to label products as such since the amount of time it takes
for plastic materials to break down would equal thousands of years. However, Balance Water and
AquaMantra stand by the biodegradable bottles, but did say they would remove the labeling to
comply with California law in news reports.
This case is the first in an effort to crack down on green marketing by the state.
Enforcing this policy falls in line with Gov. Jerry Browns recently signed Senate Bill 567 that
expands the environmental marketing law to include all plastic products by 2013.
In the United States, the Federal Trade Commission has the last say in biodegradable standards.
But, according to the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) biodegradable plastic
technologies have emerged to replace fossil fuel-based plastics with plant-based plastics. These
are the only two types of plastics on the market. The plant-based plastic made from corn, known
as poly lactic acid (PLA) tops the list as the best green choice. PLA decomposes in an estimated
60 to 90 days in water and carbon dioxide, according to GreenGood.com. However, mixed with
other chemicals that time is delayed.

ENSO company president, Danny Clark, hasnt yet responded to the lawsuit, but defends the
companys biodegradable technology that includes a microbial additive that will aid
biodegradability in less than five years in a typical compost environment.
We stand behind our technology and the claims that our company makes in stating that standard
plastics enhanced with our biodegradable additive are fully recyclable and if placed in an
environment with microbes, will naturally biodegrade, Clark said in a statement. We in no way
claim that our technology is the silver bulled to solving the massive plastic pollution issue our
world faces. It is however a huge step in the right direction.
View the complete case file here.
Banning : mengutuk
Riled: mengganggu
Falsifying: memalsukan
Misleading: menyesatkan
Deliberately: dengan bebas
Violate: melanggar
Filed: menyimpan
Lawsuit: perkara hokum
Deceptively: dgn penuh tipuan
Beverage: minuman
Banning: mengutuk
Insists: meminta dengan tegas
Comply: mematuhi
Effort: usaha,karya
Enforcing:menguatkan
Recently:baru2 ini
Expand:memperluas
according:menurut (si anu)
yet: masih

aid:membantu
claim: tuntutan,tagihan,hak
enhanced:mempertinggi
massive: besar2an