"The lawsuit was among a burgeoning crop of plastics litigation amid growing awareness of a global plastics crisis."

"Walmart and Reynolds Consumer Products have agreed to stop selling certain plastic bags in Minnesota for two and a half years, after the state’s attorney general, Keith Ellison, argued in court that the companies had falsely marketed them as recyclable.

Reynolds makes the blue or clear 13- and 30-gallon-sized Hefty-brand plastic bags that Ellison targeted in the lawsuit, filed in June 2023 in Ramsey County District Court. The lawsuit also made similar claims against 13-, 30- and 33-gallon bags sold under Walmart’s Great Value brand.

If Walmart or Reynolds resume selling the bags after the moratorium, they must be labeled as non-recyclable, according to the settlement agreements with Walmart and Reynolds reached Thursday.

The two companies have agreed to pay a collective total of $216,670, which includes 100 percent of the profits they made in selling the bags, the state’s attorney fees and other monetary relief, according to a press release from Ellison’s office."

James Bruggers reports for Inside Climate News August 3, 2024. [2]