Thursday, June 16, 2011

a plastic bag manufacturer complains, files lawsuit

Hello Readers,

You may have heard about the plastic bag islands hovering over the Pacific Gyres. You may have even seen it on TV... for example this 2004 CBS News Report (sorry about the preceding commercial... I do not necessarily agree with whatever might appear prior to the news report). Or perhaps you just understand that plastic grocery bags are an unnecessary bit of waste as the EPA has been suggesting for years.

Well, according to a recent New York Times article, a industry leading plastic bag manufacturer is now complaining that Chicobag (a reusable bag manufacturer) has been making damaging and misleading advertising claims. The NYT article points to one particular claim sited in the plastic bag manufacturer's lawsuit against Chicobag: "that ChicoBag’s Web site cites Environmental Protection Agency information that is outdated. The E.P.A. no longer endorses estimates like the one ChicoBag cited: that only 1 percent of plastic bags are recycled. Mr. Keller [Chicobag's president] said an industry site used the same figure until recently."

Perhaps there are more claims in the lawsuit, but it does seem as though this lawsuit is more likely an attempt to rack up court fees against a smaller competitor rather than right a wrong.

Reduce by Reusing!

Sean Diamond

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