US Packaging EPR Laws: 2026 Compliance Guide

Yes, in most cases, with one useful nuance. EPR laws assign producer responsibility based on whose brand appears on the packaging and who chose that packaging. For your branded products and the primary packaging you ship in, you are the producer, regardless of whether the order comes through your own site, Amazon, Shopify, or another marketplace. If Amazon or a third-party fulfillment provider adds their own outer boxes, void fill, or other shipping materials on top of yours, the marketplace or 3PL is the producer for those items, not you.

A Producer Responsibility Organization (PRO) is a nonprofit entity that administers a state's EPR program on behalf of all covered producers. The PRO collects producer fees, funds recycling infrastructure, manages data reporting, and is the legal counterparty brands register with to demonstrate compliance.

In the United States, the Circular Action Alliance (CAA) has been designated as the PRO in California, Colorado, Oregon, Maryland, and Washington. Maine is expected to select its PRO in 2026. A brand operating in multiple states typically registers through a single PRO interface that maps to each state's specific rules.

Yes. Compostable and biodegradable packaging is covered under EPR and must be reported just like any other material. "Compostable" does not mean "exempt."

Under eco-modulation, California SB 54 reduces fees for certified compostable packaging that does not contain toxic additives, with certification typically meaning ASTM D6400 or D6868, or third-party programs such as BPI or TÜV Austria. Oregon and Colorado have not finalized credits for compostables and currently treat them similar to mixed plastic, because most US municipalities lack compost infrastructure to capture them.

Labeling is a separate compliance issue. In California, AB 1201 restricts how packaging can be labeled "compostable" or "biodegradable," and SB 343 (Truth in Labeling, compliance deadline October 4, 2026) governs "recyclable" claims. Unsupported claims on either dimension can trigger enforcement separate from EPR fees.

Most EPR laws include a small-producer exemption tied to annual revenue and packaging volume, but thresholds are lower than many brand owners expect:

• California: brands with less than $1 million in gross sales are expected to be exempt.
• Oregon: less than $5 million in revenue, or less than one metric ton of packaging into Oregon per year.
• Colorado: less than $500,000 in revenue, or less than one metric ton per year, with a low-volume tier extending to roughly $5.5 million.

Below the threshold you may still need to register and submit a simplified report, and you should expect to qualify in some states and not others.

EPR covers nearly all primary, secondary, and tertiary packaging used to contain, protect, or ship a product, plus separately sold paper products in most states. For an ecommerce brand, that typically includes shipping boxes, padded and poly mailers, bubble wrap and void fill, tape, labels, retail folding cartons, pouches, and tissue paper. Oregon also covers paper products. Colorado adds food serviceware. California is still finalizing its covered-material list in 2026, and brands selling into multiple states should expect to report against several material taxonomies that do not align perfectly.

EPR fees are calculated by multiplying the weight of each packaging material you place on the market by a per-pound rate set for that material category, then adjusting up or down based on eco-modulation criteria.

Oregon's 2025 base rates illustrate the structure: paper at $0.06 per pound, rigid plastic at $0.24 per pound, and flexible plastic at $0.34 per pound. Oregon's full schedule covers more than 60 material subcategories, and once eco-modulation is applied, individual producer rates range from roughly $0.076 to $0.77 per pound. As a planning rule of thumb, brands should budget 0.5% to 1% of annual sales for PRO fees, which represents a 20% to 40% increase in packaging spend.

The single biggest lever brands have for reducing EPR fees is eco-modulation, the bonus and penalty system that raises or lowers per-pound rates based on the environmental performance of each packaging item.

Packaging earns lower fees when it:

• Contains post-consumer recycled (PCR) content
• Is recyclable in real US infrastructure (curbside or store drop-off)
• Is monomaterial rather than a multilayer composite
• Is reusable, refillable, or returnable
• Carries clear on-pack disposal labeling

Packaging pays penalty rates when it contains PFAS, California Proposition 65 chemicals, or hard-to-recycle composite structures. Colorado's draft schedule (August 2025) offers credits up to 10% for reuse systems, PCR content, and clear labeling. California adds credits for PCR, standardized design, and compostable materials, with penalties for toxic additives.

EPR is a recurring obligation, not one-time. Most covered states require annual data reporting, with fees paid quarterly or annually depending on the state and your producer size.

Oregon collects annual reports due March 31 for the prior calendar year, with fees invoiced in July. California, Colorado, and Minnesota follow similar annual cycles. Brands also need to refresh their Bill of Materials when packaging SKUs change and update PRO registration when corporate structure or product lines shift materially.

Yes. Most brands work with a combination of in-house owners and outside specialists, since EPR involves several distinct skills: regulatory tracking, material classification, weight calculation, PRO registration, and ongoing data hygiene.

Common options include EPR compliance platforms (Source Intelligence, Trayak, Brightest, rePurpose Global), packaging suppliers that provide Bill of Materials data for their own products, and legal or sustainability consulting firms. Outsourcing the data work does not transfer legal responsibility. The brand owner remains the producer of record and is the entity penalized for non-compliance.

EPR, plastic bans, and recycled content laws all regulate packaging but use different mechanisms. EPR is a fee-based system: you can use whatever packaging you want, you just pay a fee scaled to its environmental impact. Plastic bans prohibit specific materials outright, such as PFAS or single-use carryout plastic bags. Recycled content laws require a minimum percentage of post-consumer recycled material in specified packaging categories.

Many states stack all three. California, for example, has SB 54 (EPR and PFAS restrictions), SB 270 (single-use plastic bag ban), AB 793 (minimum 25% post-consumer recycled content in plastic beverage bottles in 2025, rising to 50% by 2030), and SB 343 (Truth in Labeling for recyclability claims). Brands selling into California must comply with all of these independently.

Missing an EPR reporting deadline exposes you to financial penalties and enforcement action from the state agency. The severity depends on the state and whether the missed deadline was a supply report, a registration deadline, or a fee payment.

Oregon is the most active enforcer in 2026. Oregon DEQ is publicly listing noncompliant producers and referring cases to enforcement. Late reporters face direct penalty exposure with no automatic grace period. If you missed Oregon's March 31 annual supply report deadline, contact the Circular Action Alliance and Oregon DEQ immediately.

California carries the highest statutory penalty: up to $50,000 per day for willful noncompliance under SB 54. CalRecycle has signaled it will prioritize enforcement against larger producers first, but the penalty authority applies to all covered producers. Good-faith remediation and voluntary disclosure are both considered in enforcement decisions.

For the other five states (Colorado, Maine, Minnesota, Washington, Maryland): all are in early enforcement years. Programs have generally indicated a preference for getting producers registered and reporting rather than levying immediate penalties on first-time late filers. However, this is not a guarantee, and waiting longer increases exposure.

The right action in every case is the same: engage with your state's PRO or the state agency directly, disclose the missed deadline proactively, and submit what you owe as quickly as possible. Retroactive registration and late reporting are consistently treated more favorably than non-response.

For multi-material packaging, you report each material component separately, using the weight of that component as a percentage of the total packaging unit. You do not report the package as a single item.

For example: a paper mailer with a plastic window requires you to separate and report the paper component weight and the plastic film component weight individually. Each component is assigned to its own material category, which determines the per-ton fee rate for that component.

For simple monomaterial packaging (a plain kraft paper mailer, a single-material PE bag), the full weight of the package is reported under one material category.

Oregon requires SKU-level reporting, meaning you report data at the individual product level. California, Colorado, and Oregon's annual supply reports require the most granular data. Minnesota, Maryland, and Washington currently use simplified supply report formats with aggregated material weights, which reduces the reporting burden for multi-component packaging.

Practical steps for multi-material reporting:

1. Collect a complete bill of materials for each packaging SKU, broken down by component.
2. Weigh each component or obtain component weight data from your packaging supplier.
3. Map each component to its material category using the CAA's material category reference list.
4. Report component weights by state based on how much of that SKU you shipped into each covered state.

In most cases, yes. Packaging used for B2B shipments is covered under EPR laws in the same way as direct-to-consumer packaging, as long as the product ends up in the state and the packaging meets the definition of 'covered material' under that state's program.

The key factor is not who receives the shipment. It is whether you are the brand owner (or first entity in the producer hierarchy) supplying covered packaging into a state. If you sell wholesale to a retailer in California and that retailer sells your product to consumers there, the packaging you used is covered packaging that you supplied into California. You are likely the producer responsible for reporting it.

The only situations where B2B packaging may fall outside the program are:

1. Industrial or commercial-only packaging: Some states have exemptions or separate treatment for packaging used solely in a business-to-business context where no packaging reaches a household waste stream. However, these exemptions are narrow and not universal across all seven states.
2. Packaging you do not own: If you are a contract manufacturer or co-packer producing goods under someone else's brand, the brand owner on the package is typically the producer, not you. The packaging you use for your own B2B product deliveries (corrugate cases, stretch wrap, pallet wrap) may fall under a separate covered-material definition depending on the state.

Practically, if you ship covered products to retailers, distributors, or other businesses in covered states, count that packaging tonnage in your supply report. Most state EPR programs do not distinguish the end-customer type in their covered-material definitions. If you are unsure, err toward inclusion. Under-reporting is the higher-risk outcome.