If you’ve ever checked the packaging of food or consumer products in the United States, you may have noticed a familiar black-and-white emblem: the “chasing arrows” recycling symbol, often accompanied by the web address how2recycle.info. These labels are crafted by an organization named How2Recycle, which partners with numerous companies throughout the nation to provide clear recycling instructions for boxes, wrappers, and cans.
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However, questions regarding the actual recyclability of products bearing the How2Recycle label are emerging. This uncertainty is the crux of a recent lawsuit.
On September 24, 2025, Philadelphia filed a lawsuit against two major corporations that utilize the How2Recycle label and other recycling symbols on their plastic bags: SC Johnson, known for Ziploc, and Bimbo Bakeries USA, the largest commercial baking enterprise in the United States with brands including Oroweat and Sara Lee. The 47-page complaint asserts that SC Johnson and Bimbo engaged in a “coordinated campaign of deception” aimed at misleading consumers about the recyclability of their plastic bags.
According to city solicitor Renee Garcia, these companies’ practices “violate the law, deceive consumers, and contribute to environmental pollution and the disruption of recycling operations, costing the city thousands of dollars every year in remediation,” as stated in a press release.
Oroweat bread, a brand owned by Bimbo Bakeries USA, and Ziploc bags, owned by SC Johnson. Geri Lavrov / Getty Images; Kevin Carter / Getty Images
This lawsuit exemplifies a growing trend of state, city, and county-level litigation aimed at deceptive practices in plastics recycling. Similar lawsuits are currently pending in cities like Baltimore, California, Connecticut, L.A. County, and New York state. A previous case from Minnesota against Walmart and the manufacturers of Hefty trash bags was settled in 2024.
What makes Philadelphia’s lawsuit significant is its direct challenge to How2Recycle, whose labels often instruct consumers to recycle their plastic bags at designated “store drop-off” locations, frequently found at retailers like Walmart and Target. The complaint indicates that nearly all Ziploc and Bimbo products sold in Philadelphia featured these labels as of 2024, sometimes alongside other recycling symbols and instructions.
The city contends that these labels mislead consumers into believing they can purchase plastic bags without contributing to waste, as long as they attempt to recycle them. This practice is claimed to breach a consumer protection ordinance that Philadelphia established in 2024, which enables the city to investigate deceptive business practices independently of state oversight.
Link Between Plastics and Climate Change
Plastics are derived from fossil fuels and generate greenhouse gas emissions throughout their entire lifecycle, including during oil and gas extraction, processing at petrochemical plants, and disposal—especially when incinerated. In fact, if the plastics industry were treated as a country, it would rank as the fourth-largest greenhouse gas emitter globally, according to data from the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory released last year.
Some estimates indicate that plastics account for approximately 4 percent of global greenhouse gas emissions. However, this figure may be an undercount due to significant gaps in data: many countries lack detailed emissions records tied to plastics consumption and disposal, and existing data often focuses solely on plastic production or specific disposal methods.
Researchers are also investigating other avenues through which plastics could foster climate change. For instance, studies show that plastics release greenhouse gases when exposed to UV radiation, highlighting a potentially underrecognized source of climate pollution from existing plastic products. Furthermore, marine microplastics might hinder the ocean’s carbon storage capabilities, and plastic particles on land and in the atmosphere could affect heat retention or reflection, necessitating further examination.
Holly Kaufman, a senior fellow with the World Resources Institute, emphasizes that plastics currently consume more of the carbon budget than they should. They impose a “major climate impact that has not been factored into any discussions,” including those around the U.N.’s plastics treaty.
Jan Dell, founder of the nonprofit The Last Beach Cleanup, remarked that Philadelphia’s ordinance allowing city officials to enforce laws against false claims represents a significant step forward in consumer protection and environmental safeguarding. “They passed a law, and now they’re enforcing it,” she noted.
The lawsuit references research revealing that a majority of Americans believe the chasing arrows symbol indicates that a product is recyclable and eligible for curbside recycling. In reality, Philadelphia’s curbside programs—like many others—do not accept plastic bags, as the economic feasibility of separating and processing them with specialized machinery is low.
According to a 2022 Department of Energy study, a mere 2 percent of the U.S.’s low-density polyethylene (LDPE), which includes the type of soft plastic used for bags, was recycled in 2019. That figure may be far lower for the products made by SC Johnson and Bimbo; in a 2018 industry conference, a SC Johnson executive admitted that only around 0.2 percent of Ziploc bags are ever recycled into new products. The executive further noted that there isn’t a market for recycled plastic film due to perceptions of inefficiency and lack of profitability.
Instead of recycling, plastic film—which encompasses bags and thin wrappers—often contaminates recycling equipment, jamming machinery multiple times daily and leading to facility shutdowns as workers extricate the material by hand. Philadelphia claims these issues have increased waste management and operating costs for its recycling facilities.
The How2Recycle labels instructing consumers to drop off their products do not mitigate the challenges posed by curbside recycling, according to the complaint. It asserts that these drop-off boxes merely function as “trash cans in disguise.”
The complaint includes findings from a 2023 investigation by ABC News, which tracked the journey of plastic bags deposited in store drop-off bins across the nation with GPS devices. Results showed that only 4 out of 46 trackers reached U.S. facilities capable of recycling plastic bags; most headed to landfills, incinerators, or non-recycling transfer stations. Notably, one tracker dropped off at a Target in Philadelphia was taken to a waste management transfer station and mixed with trash likely headed for incineration or landfilling. Plastic waste in landfills eventually breaks down into smaller shards that leach dangerous chemicals into the environment.
Other investigations by organizations such as Bloomberg Green, Environment America, and the U.S. Public Interest Research Group have yielded comparable findings. In 2023, the CEO of a company compiling a directory of plastic film drop-off spots abruptly took the directory offline, citing a lack of genuine commitment from the plastics industry—a sign of the continuing illusion surrounding plastics recycling. She stated, “There’s more of an illusion of stuff getting recycled than there actually is,” reflecting the concerns raised in Philadelphia’s complaint.
Peter Blair, policy and advocacy director for the zero-waste nonprofit Just Zero, noted that Philadelphia’s lawsuit might be more robust than those seen previously at state or local levels due to its backing by the city’s consumer protection ordinance, which allows for enforcement without needing to prove direct consumer harm. He highlighted that this ordinance represents a clearer challenge to the How2Recycle drop-off label than prior lawsuits. “Let’s be clear,” he stated, “the How2Recycle label’s primary purpose is not to help consumers navigate recycling, but to protect the illusion that plastic recycling works.”
How2Recycle did not reply to Grist’s request for comment. In a 2020 report, they acknowledged that store drop-off centers offer “limited” potential for addressing plastic film waste. They recently announced plans to roll out new labels highlighting take-back receptacles, yet these will still direct users to their website.
Courtesy of Jan Dell
SC Johnson has not yet commented on the situation. Meanwhile, Bimbo has stated they have not been served the complaint yet, but insists they remain “committed to zero-waste across our operations, including consumer packaging, and to being a strong partner in every community we serve.” Notably, just before Philadelphia’s lawsuit was filed, Bimbo halted a mail-in recycling initiative with TerraCycle, another entity named in the suit. TerraCycle claims the lawsuit mischaracterizes its efforts, asserting it “has always guaranteed that we recycle all accepted waste sent to us.” They argue that their stylized infinity logo was purposefully designed to avoid confusion with traditional recycling symbols.
The complaint highlights additional recycling claims made by SC Johnson and Bimbo, including statements asserting that Ziploc bags are recyclable at over “18,000 stores across the United States” and thus “don’t need to end up in landfills,” as well as commitments to make all of Bimbo’s packaging “sustainable by 2025” through their recycling program.
Philadelphia seeks a court order to prevent Bimbo and SC Johnson from marketing their plastic film as recyclable, along with civil penalties and reparations for any damages incurred because of the alleged misleading recyclability claims—such as increased municipal recycling costs caused by plastic film contaminants.
Dell encourages other government entities to emulate Philadelphia’s approach. Having settled two lawsuits related to plastic recycling claims, she emphasized that private litigation alone isn’t sufficient to ensure corporate accountability, stating, “It’s hard to rely on private litigation to maintain honesty among companies.”
She expressed hope that Philadelphia’s lawsuit could inspire other cities to take similar action, stating, “This could motivate others to say, ‘We should do that too because it’s impacting our recycling systems.’”
