In October of last year, I updated Beauty Packaging’s readers on new extended producer responsibility (EPR) laws for packaging in California and Colorado after Maine and Oregon enacted similar laws in 2021. 

All four states are steadily pushing forward on implementation of their laws that will require beauty and personal care product brand owners to help fund recovery and recycling of their packaging at its end of life. Illinois and Maryland have now passed laws laying the groundwork for similar requirements in the future.

As rulemaking ramps up, AMERIPEN, in collaboration with industry, is working with the states to make sure the new laws are as reliable, efficient, equitable, and as fair as possible.

In the meantime, packaging producers need to be aware of these new laws and their nuances, particularly if they are doing business across multiple states.

Here are the latest developments in packaging regulations for the following states.  

California

Cal-Recycle, one of the state’s environmental agencies, has now completed an extensive series of stakeholder workshops to help inform preliminary draft regulations that are expected to be released for public comment in the very near future. Keep in mind that California has some unique producer performance goals and requirements, including 25% source reduction. Producers of covered packaging materials will need to be compliant with requirements in California by January 2027.

Colorado

In May 2023, the Colorado Department of Public Health and the Environment (CDPHE) appointed the nonprofit Circular Action Alliance (CAA), the first official packaging producer responsibility organization (PRO) in the U.S., to administer its EPR law and help producers meet their compliance obligations. Starting July 2025, producers must either participate in CAA or submit an individual program plan. Colorado’s Producer Responsibility Advisory Board has been meeting since the beginning of this year to help inform implementation of the EPR program, and CDPHE has hired consultants that are currently conducting the required statewide needs assessment to help shape producer requirements.

Maine

Keep in mind that Maine’s Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) will have significant decision-making authority under the law. It will select and award a 10-year direct contract to one PRO, and it will approve the needs assessment, annual reports, and investment budgets submitted by the PRO. Conceptual draft rules for the EPR program were recently made public following a nearly 18-month stakeholder engagement process. Formal rulemaking, which includes a hearing and public comment period, must begin by December 31, 2023. Producer compliance begins in the fall of 2026.

Oregon

Oregon’s Department of Environmental Quality (DEQ) has authority to approve one or more PROs, which will be responsible for setting and collecting membership fees and for certifying that covered products are indeed recycled. Rulemaking for implementing Oregon’s law is steadily progressing, with a first major rule slated to be approved in November and development of a second major rule now underway and to be approved in 2024. Producers must start paying fees to a PRO by July 2025.

Illinois and Maryland

While both states were not able to pass full packaging EPR laws this year, both did pass laws laying the groundwork for potential future full program legislation. Their laws require completion of a statewide needs assessment within the next year and establishment of an advisory council to help oversee the needs assessment. Maryland’s law also requires selection of a PRO.

More to Come

As these EPR and other packaging laws continue to proliferate in the U.S., stakeholder collaboration with organizations such as AMERIPEN will be essential to advocate for standardized practices and fees among states to reduce complexity and aid compliance. 

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Dan Felton is executive director of AMERIPEN—the American Institute for Packaging and the Environment—an association that represents the U.S. packaging value chain by providing policymakers with fact-based, material-inclusive, scientific information. He can be contacted at [email protected].