Swartz v. Coca-Cola Co.

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The federal district court for the Northern District of California ruled that plaintiffs alleging that Coca-Cola Company and two other defendants’ misled consumers with claims that their beverage bottles were “100% recyclable” did not plausibly state claims under California law. The court granted the plaintiffs what “will likely be the final opportunity to amend” to attempt to state a plausible claim. On August 17, 2023, the plaintiffs filed a second amended consolidated complaint that alleges that the addition of “100%” to “Recyclable” “suggests to consumers that the Products exceed the ordinary standard of ‘Recyclability.’”

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The federal district court for the Northern District of California dismissed a lawsuit alleging that Coca-Cola Company and other defendants made false and misleading claims that single-use plastic bottles they supplied were “100% recyclable.” The court found that the plaintiffs did not plausibly allege that the defendants’ representations deviated from either the “commonly understood meaning of recyclable” or the definition in the Green Guides published by the Federal Trade Commission. The plaintiffs’ allegations included that “[o]ver 60 million plastic bottles end up in landfills or incinerators each day” and that “[i]ncineration of plastic releases large quantities of greenhouse gases and toxic air emissions.” The court granted the plaintiffs—who asserted claims under California’s Consumer Legal Remedies Act, False Advertising Law, and Unfair Competition Law, as well as claims that the labeling constituted fraud, deceit, and/or misrepresentation, and negligent misrepresentation—permission to file an amended complaint by December 9, 2022.

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