EPR laws for packaging: which states, who pays and who is exempt

What packaging EPR laws are

Extended producer responsibility (EPR) laws for packaging move the cost of recycling boxes, mailers, jars, labels and paper from cities and taxpayers to the companies that put that packaging on the market. The company the law names as the producer must register, report how much packaging it sold into the state, and pay fees that fund collection and recycling.

In most of these states, producers meet those duties by joining a producer responsibility organization (PRO), a nonprofit that collects fees and runs the program. Circular Action Alliance is the PRO in California, Oregon, Colorado, Minnesota and Maryland. Maine plans to hand the day-to-day running of its program to a Stewardship Organization (SO), and Washington's PRO plans are still to come.

Each state also exempts small producers. The lines differ: some use revenue, some use tons of packaging sold into the state, and a producer under either line is exempt. A small brand that ships its own orders is often under the line, but it has to check each state where it has customers. Minnesota's law, for example, covers online purchases and shipments, not only sales made in a shop there.

Rules vary by state, and states keep changing their rules and dates. This page is general information, not legal advice. Check the agency page for your state before you decide that you are exempt.

EPR regulations by state: status box

Every value in this table was read on the state agency's page or the statute on 3 Oct 2026. We re-check this page every six months, because PRO plans, registration dates and exemption amounts change. If the date above is more than six months old, treat the table as a starting point and open the source.

Several revenue tests use your whole business, not only sales into that state. Oregon counts gross (global) revenue of less than $5 million in their most recent fiscal year, and Minnesota and Maryland count global gross revenues of less than $2,000,000.

California SB 54

California's law is the Plastic Pollution Prevention and Packaging Producer Responsibility Act, known as SB 54. CalRecycle runs it, and Circular Action Alliance is the PRO. Producers have three ways to comply: join the PRO plan, submit an independent producer application, or obtain a small producer exemption.

Small producers with gross annual sales of less than $1 million can apply to be exempt from most reporting and fee duties. The exemption is not automatic. You first register in CalRecycle's reporting system, PEPRS, as a packaging EPR producer, then file the small producer exemption application.

The exemption does not remove the design rule. CalRecycle tells exempt producers to plan for all packaging they sell to be recyclable or compostable by 2032. A brand that uses a mixed plastic pouch or a plastic-lined mailer should plan a change of material well before then.

One group is excluded outright: a person who produces, harvests, and packages an agricultural commodity on the site where the agricultural commodity was grown or raised is not a producer under the law.

Oregon EPR: the Recycling Modernization Act

Oregon's Plastic Pollution and Recycling Modernization Act is run by the Oregon Department of Environmental Quality (DEQ). Circular Action Alliance is the PRO, and it has charged fees to member producers since July 1, 2025.

Oregon has the widest set of small producer tests. You are exempt if you had gross (global) revenue of less than $5 million in their most recent fiscal year, or sold less than one metric ton of covered products into Oregon in the last calendar year. A shop is also exempt if you operate a single retail sales establishment, have no online sales and are not part of a chain, so a brand that sells online cannot use that test.

Exempt small producers need not register with a PRO, report supply data, or pay fees to the PRO. DEQ recommends that producers close to the thresholds go ahead and register with and report to the PRO. Producers above the lines that fail to register face fines of up to $25,000 per day.

Colorado and Maine

Colorado's Producer Responsibility Program is overseen by the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment (CDPHE), with Circular Action Alliance as the PRO. As of July 2025, a producer cannot sell products in covered packaging in Colorado unless it takes part in the program. The statute exempts a producer with less than five million dollars in realized gross total revenue in the prior calendar year, or one that used less than one ton of covered materials for products sold into the state. CDPHE must adjust for inflation and update the revenue line every year, so check its current figure.

Maine's Stewardship Program for Packaging is run by the Maine Department of Environmental Protection (DEP). Day-to-day operation will be the job of a Stewardship Organization (SO) under contract with the department. When DEP asked for proposals, the answer was No Proposals Submitted as of Deadline, and the department is reassessing the anticipated schedule. Maine exempts producers with less than $2,000,000 in gross annual revenue for the first three program years, then less than $5,000,000 in gross annual revenue, and producers whose Maine sales used less than one ton of packaging material. Producers with less than 15 tons of packaging material a year can report in a simpler way and pay a flat fee of $500 per ton of packaging material.

Minnesota, Maryland and Washington

Minnesota's Packaging Waste and Cost Reduction Act is run by the Minnesota Pollution Control Agency (MPCA), with Circular Action Alliance (CAA) as the PRO. It covers packaging and paper sold or shipped into the state, including online purchases and shipments. The statute says a producer does not include a de minimis producer: one with global gross revenues of less than $2,000,000, or one that introduced less than one ton of covered material into Minnesota in its last fiscal year.

Maryland's Packaging and Paper Products Producer Responsibility Plans Act is run by the Maryland Department of the Environment (MDE), and Circular Action Alliance is the PRO. Producers had to register by July 1, 2026 and must renew by June 30 annually. Starting October 29, 2028, a producer without an approved plan on file may not sell covered materials into Maryland. Maryland uses the same de minimis tests as Minnesota: global gross revenues of less than $2,000,000, or less than 1 ton of covered material.

Washington's Recycling Reform Act is run by the Department of Ecology. The statute leaves De minimis producers out of the definition of producer. A de minimis producer has global revenue of less than $5,000,000, or introduced less than one ton of covered materials. The program is still being built: PRO draft plans are due October 2028, and Ecology says that, Starting in 2030, the PRO will pay most recycling costs.

Who counts as the producer of a mailer or a jar

Minnesota, Maryland and Washington split one online order into two kinds of packaging. The packaging that holds the product, such as a jar, a box or a label, has the same producer as the product itself. The packaging used to ship the order to a customer, such as a mailer, a carton, tissue or void fill, belongs to whoever packs the order.

Minnesota's statute says the producer of the packaging that holds an item sold online is the same as the producer identified under clause (1), the list for shop sales. Minnesota, Maryland and Washington name the producer of shipping packaging as the person that packages the item to be shipped to the consumer. Colorado names the person that packages or ships the product to the consumer. So a small brand that packs its own orders is the producer of both the jar and the mailer it sends.

Example: a candle brand buys amber jars and kraft mailers and ships orders from its studio. It is the producer of the jars, lids and labels because the candles carry its brand. It is also the producer of the mailers and paper fill because it packs the orders. If the same brand used a fulfillment company, the person packing the order would be the fulfillment company, so under these definitions it would be the producer of the mailer, while the brand would still be the producer of the jar.

Resellers are often not the producer of the product packaging. In Minnesota's list, an item sold under its manufacturer's brand has the person that manufactures the item as its producer. An importer only becomes the producer when no one higher on the list is in the country: then the producer is the person who is the importer of record.

EPR compliance for a small brand, step by step

These steps apply to each state where you have customers. Do them once a year, because the revenue and tonnage tests look at your last year.

1. List the states you ship to

   Pull a year of orders by shipping state. This page covers the seven states with packaging EPR laws that we track. Check whether any other state you ship to has passed one since the last check.

2. Weigh your packaging

   Weigh one of each jar, lid, label, box, mailer and fill you use, then multiply by units shipped into each state. Tonnage tests such as less than one metric ton of covered products or less than one ton of covered material use this number.

3. Check each state's exemption

   Compare your revenue and your state tonnage with the table above. Oregon, Minnesota, Maryland and Washington count global revenue, so use the whole business. If you are under the line, keep the numbers that prove it.

4. Register where required

   If you are above a line, register with that state's PRO, which is Circular Action Alliance in five of the seven states, or apply for an exemption where the state asks for one. California requires an application through PEPRS even for the small producer exemption.

5. Report and pay each year

   Report the weight of each material to the PRO by its deadline and pay its fees. The PRO publishes its fee schedule, so check it before you change materials.

Records to keep

Whether you register or rely on an exemption, keep records that show how you reached your answer, so you can show them if an agency or the PRO asks.

• Annual global gross revenue, from your tax return or year-end accounts.
• Units shipped into each EPR state, from your store's order export.
• A packaging list: each item, its material, its weight and where you buy it.
• The total weight of packaging sold into each state, with the sum shown.
• Who packs your orders, and any contract that assigns producer duties to a fulfillment company.
• Copies of registrations, exemption applications and PRO reports, with dates.
• The date you last checked each state's rules, and the page you checked.

Where Nation fits

Questions about packaging EPR laws