Illinois: sustainable packaging labelling

Executive summary

Illinois regulates two distinct on-pack subjects. The Illinois Plastic Bottle and Rigid Plastic Container Coding Act prescribes a material-identification code for covered single-use plastic packages. The Wipes Labeling Act prescribes a consumer disposal warning for defined premoistened nonwoven wipes and prohibits any representation that such products are flushable. The wipe regime is substantially more detailed than a simple warning requirement: it changes with the package format and regulates the symbol, words, location, size, visibility and contrast.

A product can trigger neither, one or both regimes. The resin statute concerns the container. The wipes statute concerns the covered wipe and its retail package. Neither should be treated as a universal Illinois recycling label. Environmental claims elsewhere on the package remain separate representations requiring substantiation.

Legal status at a glance

Single-use plastic resin code

Section 10 of the Coding Act applies to a single-use plastic bottle with a capacity of at least 16 fluid ounces and to another single-use rigid plastic container with a capacity of at least eight fluid ounces. The mark consists of a three-sided triangular arrow surrounding the number 1 through 7, with the resin abbreviation beneath. When a label or base cup uses a different resin, the code follows the primary basic material. Lead-acid battery casings are excluded.

The statute has required the code since 1 January 1992. It does not create a statewide proposition that every numbered item is accepted for curbside recycling. Teams should identify the polymer from the technical specification, verify that the article meets the statutory form and capacity thresholds, and keep recyclability wording out of the resin-code decision.

Which wipes are covered

The Wipes Labeling Act reaches baby wipes and diapering wipes and also reaches premoistened nonwoven disposable wipes that are composed in whole or in part of petrochemical-derived fibres and are likely to be used in a bathroom or have significant potential to be flushed. The statutory categories include cleaning and disinfecting wipes and other personal-care uses. Classification should be made from the article's composition, intended or foreseeable use and package presentation, not only from the marketing department's product category.

The duties apply to covered products manufactured on or after 1 July 2022. A company should retain the manufacturing date, substrate specification, use classification and approved warning proof. A product that falls outside this statute may still need accurate disposal instructions under other law.

Symbol, wording, size and contrast

A covered package must display the prescribed “Do Not Flush” symbol together with the words “Do Not Flush,” subject to the Act's package-specific layout rules. As a general benchmark, the symbol and notice each occupy at least two percent of the surface area of the principal display panel. The presentation must be clear, conspicuous and unobscured by seams, folds or other package features. The statute defines high contrast through a numerical contrast calculation and generally requires a value of at least 70 percent.

The format rules matter. Cylindrical packages can use the principal display panel or specified treatment around a flip lid, with the flip-lid symbol occupying at least eight percent of the lid area. Flexible-film packages generally place the symbol on both the principal display panel and the dispensing side and place the words on one panel; when the dispensing side is itself the principal display panel, one presentation can satisfy both functions. Refillable tubs, non-dispenser packages, bulk packages and very small combination products have tailored rules. Artwork should therefore begin with the package-format provision, not a generic symbol file.

Prohibited flushable representations

A covered product may not be labelled or represented as flushable. The prohibition reaches express and implied claims and specifically encompasses product names, labels, images, endorsements and trademarks. A disclaimer cannot be assumed to cure a brand name or prominent visual that communicates the opposite message. Consumer testing and the full package impression may be relevant where the wording is indirect.

Products regulated under the Federal Insecticide, Fungicide, and Rodenticide Act follow the Act's federal-label coordination process. The Illinois law required timely submission of compliant wording to the United States Environmental Protection Agency and expects the registrant to use as much of the required presentation as federal approval permits. The federal registration record belongs in the state compliance file.

Who bears the obligation

The wipes law defines a covered entity to include the manufacturer of a covered product sold or offered for sale and a wholesaler, supplier or retailer responsible for the labelling or packaging. This wording is deliberately broader than a single brand-owner duty. Private manufacturing and artwork contracts should allocate execution and records, but they do not narrow the statutory definition.

Wastewater-treatment authorities have an additional information mechanism. A covered entity receiving a qualifying request must provide specified information within 90 days. The operational file should therefore include a contact route and the supporting product and label records, not only the final artwork.

Enforcement and penalties

Specified wastewater authorities enforce the Wipes Labeling Act. The Act uses notice and cure before monetary enforcement: the covered entity generally receives 90 days to cure an initial violation. Civil penalties can reach $2,000 for a first violation, $5,000 for a second and $10,000 for a third or subsequent violation, with subsequent violations measured on a monthly basis as provided by the statute. Enforcement costs and reasonable attorney's fees may also be recovered.

Resin-code and general consumer-protection enforcement follow their own statutes. A report should not merge those consequences into the wipe penalty schedule. A compliant wipe warning also does not provide a defence for unrelated misleading environmental claims.

Practical artwork checklist

For plastic containers, confirm single-use status, form, capacity, predominant resin and code geometry. For wipes, document coverage, manufacturing date and package format; calculate the applicable panel or lid area; verify symbol and wording size; calculate contrast; inspect seams, folds and the dispensing position; and review every product name, icon and endorsement for an implied flushability message. Retain measured production proofs rather than relying on an unscaled design file.

Primary sources and verification

Illinois General Assembly. 415 ILCS 15/10, plastic resin coding. Official statute

Illinois General Assembly. 415 ILCS 165/10, definitions and scope. Official statute

Illinois General Assembly. 415 ILCS 165/15, labelling requirements and prohibited representations. Official statute

Illinois General Assembly. Public Act 102-0286, Wipes Labeling Act. Official enacted act

Federal Trade Commission. Guides for the Use of Environmental Marketing Claims, 16 C.F.R. Part 260. Official Green Guides

Federal Trade Commission. Environmental Claims: Summary of the Green Guides. Business guidance

Package measurements and product classification should be documented for each wipe format. Last verified: 21 August 2026.