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Ameripen Supports Packaging Extended Producer Responsibility Legislation in Minnesota

The law includes shared producer responsibility, a producer responsibility organization, and good antitrust provisions.

05.20.24

Ameripen, the American Institute for Packaging and the Environment, announced that it supports the packaging extended producer responsibility (EPR) framework passed by the Minnesota legislature, which is currently awaiting consideration by Governor Tim Walz.

Dan Felton, Executive Director of Ameripen, said,

“Minnesota’s packaging producer responsibility legislation is a fair compromise that establishes a model of shared responsibility and is aligned with Ameripen’s key principles. This legislation supports a system that is reliable, efficient, and effective, and enables a strong producer responsibility organization (PRO) to ensure that producer fees will directly fund initiatives to increase recycling and composting even further in the state.”

Key elements of the new law include:

Shared producer responsibility. Packaging producers will begin paying for recycling costs in Minnesota starting at 50% in 2029, 75% in 2030, and 90% in 2031 and beyond, while service providers must also register and meet performance standards for reimbursement based on competitive bids, and local governments will continue to be engaged partners.

A producer responsibility organization (PRO), formed by packaging producers, will establish a process and reimbursement model for only core recycling functions for residents and limited other entities.

The PRO, under this framework, can remain focused on core activities without the burdens imposed by EPR laws in other states, such as artificial timelines for arbitrary recycling targets; mandates to fund recycling for massive commercial operations that can manage their own recycling costs or landfilling; and unrelated mandates around packaging composition.