A coalition of agriculture, forestry, restaurant and packaging organizations is suing California over its Truth in Recycling law, saying it violates their right to free speech.
Industry trade groups, including the Dairy Institute of California, the Flexible Packaging Assn. and the Western Growers Assn., filed their lawsuit in the US District Court for the Southern District of California on Tuesday.
They argue that Senate Bill 343, which would regulate the use of a “missile chase” recycling symbol in California, acts as a “state-mandated test,” according to a news release issued by a public affairs firm contracted by the group. California law states that only truly recyclable products can carry the label.
Businesses say that only if “materials satisfy a strict and non-binding regulatory process set by the government” can they inform consumers that their packaging is recyclable.
They also sought a preliminary injunction to block the implementation of the law while the challenge continues in court.
“SB 343 forces dairy manufacturers to remove important recycling guidelines from the cartons that Californians rely on every day,” Dairy Institute of California Executive Director Katie Davey said in a statement. “This law ignores the reality of our recycling infrastructure and unconstitutionally limits our right to provide clear recycling instructions to consumers. We want to stop this policy before it leads to more waste and disrupts our ability to deliver milk to California families and schools.”
The bill was signed by Gov. Gavin Newsom in 2021 and took office in 2025. Prohibits manufacturers from using the “chase arrow” logo on products or materials that cannot be recycled in any meaningful way in California.
In January, CalRecycle, the state’s waste agency, released a report showing that most single-use plastics in the state’s landfills were being recycled at rates of less than 10%.
Even yogurt containers and margarine containers – made from some of the most common plastic packaging materials, such as polypropylene – are recycled at a rate of only 2% in the province, the report said. Only 5 percent of colored shampoo and detergent bottles, made of polyethylene, or #1 plastic, are recycled.
Reports of extremely low recycling rates for milk cartons and polystyrene were widely shared even before that.
“Why would lying to consumers be protected speech under the first amendment?” said Nick Lapis, director of advocacy for Californians Against Waste. “Courts have repeatedly said that the government can regulate environmental claims to require credibility, and I don’t see how this is going to be any different.”
Plastics that cannot be recycled are often sent to landfills or sometimes illegally shipped overseas, where they are incinerated or end up in landfills, rivers and waterways there.
A report by the Natural Resources Defense Council shows that nationwide, taxpayers, governments and businesses spend between $9.8 billion and $13.3 billion a year cleaning up plastic waste, and about $3 billion is spent by local governments on plastic landfills.
In accordance with analyzing one situation2.9 million tons of single-use plastic and 171.4 billion single-use plastic parts were sold, offered for sale or distributed in California by 2023.
Single-use plastics, and plastic waste more broadly, are considered a growing environmental and health problem. In recent decades, plastic waste you are frustrated water and seassickening and threatening marine life human health.
“The facts have been clear for some time now: Many products that are said to be ‘recyclable’ are actually not recyclable under real world conditions,” said Sen. Ben Allen (D-Santa Monica), who authored the Truth in Recycling bill.
