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Rhode Island: sustainable packaging labelling
Rhode Island requires covered plastic bottles and rigid plastic containers, and products in those packages, to carry the prescribed 1-7 chasing-arrows resin-identification code. A separate Environmental Marketing Act prohibits untruthful, deceptive or misleading environmental marketing claims and supplies a defence tied to the Federal Trade Commission guides published on 27 July 1992.
Executive summary
Rhode Island layers a resin-identification duty with a general environmental-marketing prohibition. The Plastic Bottle and Container Labeling Act, title 23, chapter 18.15, provides that no person shall distribute, sell or offer for sale any plastic bottle or rigid plastic container, or any product in a plastic bottle or container, unless the product bottle or container is labelled with a code indicating the plastic resin used to produce the bottle or container. The prescribed graphic is the traditional triangle of arrows with letters below.
The Environmental Marketing Act, title 6, chapter 13.3, separately makes it unlawful for any person, in the course of that person’s business, vocation or occupation, to make any untruthful, deceptive or misleading environmental marketing claims about a product or package sold or offered for sale in the state. Section 6-13.3-4 supplies a defence where the person’s claims conform to the standards or are consistent with the examples contained in the FTC guides for use of environmental marketing claims published on 27 July 1992. The chapter does not enumerate specific terms such as “recyclable” or “compostable.”
Legal status at a glance
| Requirement | Status | Operational meaning |
|---|---|---|
| Covered plastic bottle or rigid container | mandatory | The package, or the product in that package, carries the prescribed 1-7 chasing-arrows resin code. |
| Size thresholds | in force | Plastic bottles of 16 fluid ounces or more but less than five gallons, and rigid plastic containers of eight ounces or more but less than five gallons, are in scope. |
| Environmental marketing claim | prohibited if deceptive | Untruthful, deceptive or misleading environmental marketing claims about a product or package sold in the state are unlawful. |
| Beverage-deposit mark | none | Rhode Island has no statewide container-deposit system requiring a refund-value statement. |
Covered plastic bottles and containers
Section 23-18.15-1 defines “plastic bottle” as a plastic container that has a neck smaller than the body, accepts a screw-type, snap cap or other closure, and has a capacity of 16 fluid ounces or more but less than five gallons. “Rigid plastic container” means any formed or molded container, other than a bottle, intended for single use, composed predominantly of plastic resin and having a relatively inflexible finite shape or form with a capacity of eight ounces or more but less than five gallons. “Plastic” means any material made of polymeric organic compounds and additives that can be shaped by flow.
Section 23-18.15-2 reaches not only the empty package but also any product in a plastic bottle or container. Plastic bottles or rigid plastic containers with labels and base cups of a different material shall be coded by their basic material. Classification should use the finished article, capacity and basic resin rather than a marketing description.
Required resin code
The code shall consist of a number placed within a triangle of arrows and letters placed below the triangle of arrows. The triangle shall be equilateral, formed by three arrows with the apex of each point of the triangle at the midpoint of each arrow, rounded with a short radius. The arrowhead of each arrow shall be at the midpoint of each side of the triangle, with a short gap separating the pointer from the base of the adjacent arrow. The triangle, formed by the three arrows curved at their midpoints, shall depict a clockwise path around the code number.
The numbers and letters are 1 PETE, 2 HDPE, 3 V, 4 LDPE, 5 PP, 6 PS and 7 OTHER. The symbol identifies resin; it is not a finding that the package is recyclable in Rhode Island. Neighbouring sections of the chapter address regulations and a resource-recovery plan; they should not be read as converting the code into a sorting instruction or a recyclability claim.
Environmental Marketing Act
Section 6-13.3-2 is a general prohibition. It does not list “recyclable,” “biodegradable,” “compostable” or “ozone friendly.” Any environmental marketing claim about a product or package sold or offered for sale in Rhode Island is unlawful if it is untruthful, deceptive or misleading. “Person” includes any individual, corporation, partnership or other legal entity. The overall presentation — words, arrows, certifications and omissions — can contribute to deception even where a required resin code is present.
The 1992 Green Guides defence
Section 6-13.3-4 provides that it shall be a defence to any suit brought under the chapter that the person’s environmental marketing claims conform to the standards or are consistent with the examples contained in the guides for use of environmental marketing claims published by the Federal Trade Commission on 27 July 1992. The statutory text cites that 1992 publication date. The FTC later revised the Green Guides in 1996, 1998 and 2012. This report records the statutory citation as written and does not treat later federal revisions as automatically substituted into the Rhode Island defence without further legal analysis.
Even if the defence is available, it is a defence, not a drafting manual that requires a particular logo. Current federal Green Guide analysis remains independently relevant because the FTC can still challenge interstate environmental marketing under section 5 of the FTC Act.
Enforcement and practical consequences
The resin-code sales prohibition reaches distribution, sale and offer for sale of covered bottles, rigid containers and products in those packages. Inventory controls should identify affected stock before release in Rhode Island. Environmental-marketing enforcement follows chapter 6-13.3 and general consumer-protection routes. The two regimes should not be collapsed into a single regulator or a single penalty.
Practical artwork checklist
Apply the section 23-18.15-1 definitions, including the 16-ounce and eight-ounce thresholds. Inspect the 1-7 chasing-arrows code and code the basic material where a label or base cup differs. Inventory every environmental claim against section 6-13.3-2. Do not treat the resin code as a recyclable claim, and do not assume that later FTC Green Guide revisions are automatically the Rhode Island statutory defence text.
Primary sources and verification
Rhode Island General Assembly. R.I. Gen. Laws section 23-18.15-1, Plastic Bottle and Container Labeling Act definitions. Official statute
Rhode Island General Assembly. R.I. Gen. Laws section 23-18.15-2, labelling requirements. Official statute
Rhode Island General Assembly. R.I. Gen. Laws section 6-13.3-2, deceptive environmental marketing claims. Official statute
Rhode Island General Assembly. R.I. Gen. Laws section 6-13.3-4, FTC guides defence. Official statute
Plastics Industry Association. State plastic resin identification code survey, hosted by Oregon DEQ. Comparative survey
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
The Environmental Marketing Act defence cites the 27 July 1992 Green Guides. Last verified: 21 August 2026.