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South Carolina: sustainable packaging labelling
South Carolina requires covered plastic bottles and rigid plastic containers to carry the prescribed 1-7 chasing-arrows resin-identification code on or near the bottom. The code identifies resin and is not a legal guarantee of recyclability. No statewide beverage-deposit or packaging-specific environmental-marketing presentation statute was identified.
Executive summary
South Carolina’s packaging-labelling contribution, for the categories tracked here, is a resin-identification code in the Solid Waste Policy and Management Act. Section 44-96-150(F) provides that no person shall distribute, sell or offer for sale in this State a plastic bottle or rigid plastic container unless the bottle or container is labelled with a code identifying the appropriate resin type used to produce the structure of the container. The prescribed graphic is the traditional triangulated-arrows device, located on or near the bottom and clearly visible.
The subsection does not create a beverage-deposit mark, a compostability logo or a packaging EPR consumer symbol. It also does not convert the resin code into a recyclability claim. Voluntary environmental representations remain subject to the FTC Green Guides and South Carolina’s general unfair-trade law.
Legal status at a glance
| Requirement | Status | Operational meaning |
|---|---|---|
| Covered plastic bottle or rigid container | mandatory | The package carries the prescribed 1-7 chasing-arrows resin code on or near the bottom. |
| 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. |
| Beverage-deposit, compostability or wipe mark | none identified | No generally applicable state presentation rule in these categories was identified within this report’s scope. |
| Voluntary environmental claim | claim-dependent | Claims remain subject to the FTC Green Guides and generally applicable South Carolina consumer-protection law. |
Covered bottles and rigid containers
Section 44-96-40(32) defines “plastic bottle” as a plastic container intended for single use, which has a neck smaller than the body of the container, accepts a screw-type, snap cap or other closure, and has a capacity of 16 fluid ounces or more, but less than five gallons. Section 44-96-40(43) defines “rigid plastic container” as 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.
Those size thresholds sit in the definitions section, not in subsection (F). Surveys that omit the definitions will understate South Carolina’s limitation. Classification should use single-use intent, neck geometry, rigidity and actual capacity.
Required symbol and sale control
The code shall consist of a number placed within three triangulated arrows. The three arrows shall form an equilateral triangle with the common point of each line forming each angle of the triangle at the midpoint of each arrow and 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 arrowhead 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 label shall appear on or near the bottom of the plastic container product and be clearly visible.
The numbers and letters are 1 PETE, 2 HDPE, 3 V, 4 LDPE, 5 PP, 6 PS and 7 OTHER. The prohibition reaches distribution, sale or offer for sale in the state. A sticker placed away from the bottom, or a code that is not clearly visible, should not be treated as equivalent to the prescribed label.
Nationally recognised additional codes
Subsection (F) adds that nothing in the subsection may prevent a manufacturer or distributor of containers produced from a plastic resin not identified in the subsection from adopting a labelling code number and letter that will assist in the segregation and collection of that resin for recycling if the code number and letter used are nationally recognised industry standards. That sentence is a permission, not a mandate to invent a new consumer recycling logo, and it does not convert a non-standard resin into a recyclable claim.
Claims and neighbouring regimes
The resin code identifies the structure resin. It is not a finding that the package is accepted in South Carolina recycling systems. Surrounding words or an unqualified “recyclable” statement require separate substantiation under the Green Guides. South Carolina was not identified as having a packaging-specific environmental-marketing claims statute comparable to New Mexico 12.2.5 NMAC or Rhode Island chapter 6-13.3. No statewide beverage-container deposit programme was identified.
Enforcement and practical consequences
Section 44-96-150(F) is a sales-control rule: no person shall distribute, sell or offer for sale a non-conforming covered bottle or rigid container. Chapter 96 also contains broader enforcement provisions, including civil penalties in section 44-96-100 for specified violations; this report does not treat those general penalty figures as automatically applicable to every packaging-label lapse without a further statutory analysis. The practical risks include blocked distribution and the cost of correcting a production run that omitted the bottom code.
Practical artwork checklist
Apply the section 44-96-40 definitions, including the 16-ounce and eight-ounce thresholds. Confirm single-use status and basic resin. Inspect a clearly visible 1-7 chasing-arrows code on or near the bottom. If a non-listed resin is used, record the nationally recognised industry code adopted. Do not treat the symbol as a recyclable claim.
Primary sources and verification
South Carolina Legislature. Title 44, chapter 96, Solid Waste Policy and Management Act, including sections 44-96-40 and 44-96-150. Official code chapter
Justia. S.C. Code section 44-96-150, packaging; plastics. Current consolidated text
Justia. S.C. Code section 44-96-40, definitions. Current consolidated text
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
Size thresholds sit in section 44-96-40, not only in subsection 44-96-150(F). Last verified: 21 August 2026.