
                         Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: FRIDAY, March 30, 1990                   TAG: 9003300156
SECTION: BUSINESS                    PAGE: B4   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: 
DATELINE:                                 LENGTH: Short

HEFTY BAGS DUMP `DEGRADABLE' LABEL

Mobil Corp. said Thursday it would remove the word "degradable" from boxes of its Hefty plastic trash bags, apparently bowing to demands from environmental groups and the threat of legal action by the attorneys general of eight states.

The decision was hailed by environmentalists as an important step toward reversing a trend by some companies to make environmental claims that have little or no substance.

Mobil had based its claim of degradability on a chemical added to the plastic that tends to decompose in the presence of sunlight. But company officials have acknowledged that the vast majority of trash bags go into landfills where they are covered by other trash and dirt, making the additive irrelevant. - The New York Times

by CNB