California sues Walmart for illegally disposing hazardous waste

• Walmart said it will fight the lawsuit labelling it “unjustified”

• Walmart operates more than 300 stores in California

California alleged that Walmart illegally dumps more than 1 million batteries, aerosol cans of insect killer and other hazardous waste into California landfills each year.

“As we shop the brightly packed aisles there are products that will never make it into the cart — returned, damaged or pulled from the shelves for a variety of reasons,” said California Attorney General Rob Bonta.

“When a big box store disposes of unwanted goods, just like the rest of us, they need to do so properly. Unfortunately, Walmart — the largest company in the world by revenue — has failed to do that on a grand scale here in California,” Bonta said.

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Other lawsuits

Walmart labelled the lawsuit “unjustified.” The retail giant has faced similar lawsuit in 2010 in which the company paid $25 million and agreed to stop dumping into local landfills. Walmart paid $1.25 million to Missouri in 2012 to settle a similar lawsuit.

Walmart operates more than 300 stores in California.

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Walmart spokesman Randy Hargrove said the company will fight the lawsuit. “The state is demanding a level of compliance regarding waste disposal from our stores of common household products and other items that goes beyond what is required by law,” he said.

Hargrove added that more than 3,800 audits overseen by the attorney general’s office since 2010 found that Walmart’s trash compactors “contain at most 0.4% of items of potential concern,” compared to a statewide average of 3%.

Picture Credits: Getty Images