For decades, packaging recovery has been the responsibility of local governments and taxpayers. EPR moves that responsibility to the producer. Under an EPR program, the company that sells packaged goods into a regulated state is responsible for funding the collection, sorting, and recycling of that packaging.
This shift is now law in California, Oregon, Colorado, Minnesota, Maryland, Maine, and Washington. The laws cover packaging systems and paper products broadly, and in some states extend to food serviceware. Flexible packaging is in scope, and tends to draw the highest fee tiers because flexibles are the format the recycling system handles least well.
This guide covers three things: what the model is, where it is in effect, and what it means for producers and brands selling into regulated states.
