American Corporations Must Move Away from Deceptive Labeling Once and For All

SACRAMENTO – Senator Ben Allen (D-Santa Monica), author of SB 343 (2021), responds to Congress’ attempt to undermine California’s truth-in-labeling law, which provides corporate accountability and builds consumer trust in how products are advertised to them.

“For decades, plastic manufacturers knowingly misled consumers about the recyclability of their products. This allowed them to escape public scrutiny as millions of tons of excess waste and pollution proliferated within our communities and choked our environment. The truth matters. A product is not ‘recyclable,’ and should not be advertised as such, if it cannot be recycled. I authored California’s truth-in-labeling law to stop these lies. People want to do the right thing to reduce waste by appropriately utilizing our blue bins, but the mass lies and confusion has only made waste services more expensive in order to sort for material that can actually be recycled. These costs are passed onto ratepayers, and it is why California’s law passed with bipartisan support.

Just as Congressman Weber has advertised himself as ‘pro states’ rights,’ his megadonors have similarly misled the American public, trying to convince us that their products are less harmful than they actually are. The ‘Packaging and Claims Misinformation Act’ only seeks to undermine the accountability we are providing in California.  This would cost us more than just our faith in what is being advertised. Rolling back our protections would lead to increased residential waste rates and more pollution. Product labels must be rooted in reality, not wishful thinking.”