(California) State sues over 'biodegradable' labeling

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Source: SF Chronicle

(10-26) 17:49 PDT SAN FRANCISCO -- A plastic bottling company and two bottled-water companies are selling their products in California in containers labeled "biodegradable," a designation that is both false and illegal, Attorney General Kamala Harris said today in a lawsuit.

The suit seeks to remove the bottles from store shelves throughout the state using a 2-year-old California law that prohibits labeling any plastic food or beverage container as biodegradable.

Harris filed what she described as the "first-of-its-kind 'greenwashing' lawsuit" in Orange County Superior Court against ENSO Plastics, which makes the beverage containers, and Balance Water Co. and Aquamantra, which sell their water in ENSO bottles.

ENSO introduced the containers in 2009, describing them in marketing as "the first truly biodegradable and recyclable PET (polyester plastic) bottles on the market."

Read more: http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2011/10/26/BA071LMNNR.DTL