ChicoBag, plastics strike a deal

ChicoBag Co. won a major victory this week when two plastic-bag companies dropped out of a lawsuit against the manufacturer of reusable shopping bags and the final plaintiff decided to settle, according to a ChicoBag press release.

The lawsuit, filed in January, charged that ChicoBag had irreparably harmed the business of three major plastic-bag manufacturers—Hilex Poly Co., Superbag Co. and Advance Polybag Inc.—through false advertising on its website. ChicoBag challenged the plaintiffs to prove it’d gotten facts wrong and started an online petition asking the plastic-bag companies to back off. More than 25,000 people signed.

“What started as a bullying tactic, to silence a critic and stop ChicoBag from achieving our mission of helping humanity kick the single-use bag habit, has morphed into two wins for the environment,” ChicoBag President Andy Keller said in the release. Hilex Poly, the last remaining plaintiff, agreed to acknowledge that plastic bags can become windblown litter despite proper disposal.