DETROIT — The Society of St. Vincent de Paul has filed a lawsuit in federal court claiming a Houston recycling company and a Jackson-based hauling company illegally removed and disposed of the society’s donation bins in several Metro Detroit locations.

The lawsuit, first reported in Crain’s Detroit Business on Sept. 23, was filed in U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Michigan in Detroit. It alleges American Textile Recycling Services paid Jackson-based JA Hauling to remove St. Vincent de Paul’s bins in order to replace them with American Textile’s own. American Textile is a for-profit company.

The suit is seeking the return of the bins — which, according to the suit, have been scrapped — the content of the bins and at least $75,000 to cover donations lost because of the bins’ absence.

Maryland-based Planet Aid is a partner in the lawsuit, and claims its bins were also removed by American Textile.