JACO Prevails in Appeal Filed by Competitor ARCA

According to a press announcement, the U.S. Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals has ruled in favor of JACO Environmental by rejecting an appeal of a summary judgment granted against Appliance Recycling Centers of America Inc. (ARCA) in January 2009 by a federal court in California in a lawsuit originally filed by ARCA in November 2004.

In the lawsuit, ARCA claimed that JACO made false and misleading statements about JACO's refrigerator and freezer recycling services — specifically its system for safely handling contaminated polyurethane foam from those units — to the California Public Utilities Commission and utilities in several states. The Ninth Circuit rejected ARCA's claims, upholding the lower court's decision to dismiss those claims on summary judgment and concluding that none of the statements challenged by ARCA satisfied the necessary elements of a false-advertising claim.

"I am delighted that this distraction is behind us so that we can concentrate fully on cost-effective and environmentally responsible appliance recycling, in which JACO is a recognized leader," says Terry Jacobsen, president of JACO.

JACO has more than 150 utility contracts in 26 states and the company operates 21 recycling facilities throughout the United States.