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Wisconsin: sustainable packaging labelling
Wisconsin requires plastic-container resin identification under DATCP rules issued pursuant to section 100.33, without the statute itself prescribing chasing arrows. Chapter ATCP 137 separately conditions degradable, recyclable and recycled-content representations.
Executive summary
Wisconsin separates material identification from claim content. Section 100.33 requires the Department of Agriculture, Trade and Consumer Protection to promulgate labelling rules for plastic containers designed to give material-recovery operators the information needed to recycle, reclaim or reuse those containers. The rules must permit manufacturers and fillers to choose an appropriate labelling method and must be consistent, to the greatest extent practicable, with national industry-wide plastic container coding systems. The statute does not itself prescribe a chasing-arrows triangle.
Chapter ATCP 137, adopted under sections 100.20(2) and 100.295, supplies the claim-content layer. ATCP 137.04 allows an unqualified degradable representation only where the product fully decomposes under customary conditions of use and disposal in the sales area, within a reasonably short period, without releasing contaminants that breach environmental standards. Otherwise the representation must be qualified. Recyclable and recycled-content representations are addressed in neighbouring sections of the same chapter. Neither layer creates a beverage-deposit mark.
Legal status at a glance
| Requirement | Status | Operational meaning |
|---|---|---|
| Covered plastic container | mandatory | The container complies with DATCP labelling rules issued under section 100.33. The statute does not prescribe chasing arrows. |
| Beverage bottles of eight fluid ounces or more | mandatory | Wholesale and retail sale prohibitions have been in force since 1991 and 1992 respectively. |
| Other bottles and rigid containers | mandatory | Phased 16-ounce then eight-ounce thresholds apply, with later retail dates than wholesale dates. |
| Unqualified degradable claim | restricted | Allowed only if the product fully breaks down in a reasonably short time under normal disposal without breaching environmental standards; otherwise it must be qualified. |
Plastic container labelling
Section 100.33(1)(c) defines a “plastic container” as an individual, separate, rigid plastic bottle, can, jar or carton, except a blister pack, originally used to contain a product that is the subject of a retail sale. A “bottle” is a plastic container the neck of which is smaller than its body, with a screw-on or press-on lid. “Labeling” means attaching information to, or embossing or printing information on, a plastic container.
Subsection (2) is the rulemaking mandate. DATCP must establish labelling requirements designed to provide information needed by operators of material-recovery programmes. Manufacturers of plastic containers and persons who place products in plastic containers may choose an appropriate method. The department shall make an effort to develop rules consistent with national industry-wide coding systems, and shall exempt plastic containers that are readily identifiable because of their appearance. Cross-reference materials point to ATCP 137.11 and neighbouring sections as the implementing labelling rules. A national 1-7 resin series is the industry system the statute directs the department to accommodate; the statute still does not convert that series into a recyclability claim or require the enclosing arrows as a matter of legislative text.
Phased capacities and exemptions
The sale prohibitions in subsection (3) are already in force and are organised by product type and capacity. Plastic beverage bottles of eight fluid ounces or more have been barred from unlabelled wholesale sale since 1 January 1991 and from unlabelled retail sale since 1 January 1992. Other plastic bottles of 16 fluid ounces or more followed the same wholesale/retail pair of dates, with bottles of at least eight but less than 16 fluid ounces following on 1 January 1993 (wholesale) and 1 January 1994 (retail). Other plastic containers — not bottles — of 16 fluid ounces or more, then of at least eight but less than 16 fluid ounces, have their own wholesale and retail dates in subsection (3)(c).
Upon request, the department may grant a variance for up to one year for a type of plastic container, and may renew a variance, only if it is not technologically possible to label the container. Readily identifiable containers may be exempt under the rules. Classification should therefore use the statutory bottle versus other-container distinction, the eight- and 16-ounce thresholds, and any current variance or appearance exemption, rather than a single “all rigid plastic” assumption.
ATCP 137 environmental labelling
ATCP 137.04(1) provides that no person may represent that a product is degradable unless the product will fully decompose under customary conditions of use and disposal in the area where the product is sold to soluble nutrients, minerals, inorganic compounds, simple organic compounds found in nature, carbon dioxide, methane or water; the decomposition occurs within a reasonably short period of time compatible with the product’s customary use or disposal; and decomposition does not release contaminants or substances that are toxic to persons or the environment or that violate state or federal standards. If those conditions are not met, the representation must be qualified to avoid deception.
The rule also addresses home-composting impressions and misrepresentation of the rate or extent of decomposition. Representations must comply with ATCP 137.07 as to form and content and must be substantiated under ATCP 137.08. Recyclable and recycled-content representations are governed by ATCP 137.05 and 137.06. The chapter was created effective 1 February 1994 and amended effective March 1996. A resin code required under section 100.33 is not, without more, an ATCP 137 recyclable representation, but surrounding arrows or “recyclable” wording can become one.
Forfeiture and administration
Any person who violates subsection (3) of section 100.33 shall forfeit not more than 500 dollars for each violation. Each day of violation constitutes a separate offence. DATCP administers both the plastic-container labelling rules and ATCP 137. Federal Green Guides enforcement remains independently available.
Practical artwork checklist
Classify the article as a beverage bottle, other bottle or other plastic container, and apply the eight- and 16-ounce thresholds. Confirm DATCP-compliant resin identification and record that chasing arrows are a national-artwork choice, not a section 100.33 graphic mandate. Inventory degradable, compostable, recyclable and recycled-content words against ATCP 137.04–137.06 and retain substantiation under ATCP 137.08. Do not treat a Wisconsin resin number as a recyclability finding.
Primary sources and verification
Wisconsin Legislature. Wis. Stat. section 100.33, plastic container labelling. Official statute
Wisconsin Legislature. Wis. Admin. Code chapter ATCP 137, environmental labelling of products. Official administrative code
Wisconsin Legislature. Wis. Stat. section 100.295, labelling of recycled, recyclable or degradable products. Rulemaking authority
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
Section 100.33 requires a code through DATCP rules and does not itself prescribe chasing arrows. Last verified: 21 August 2026.