California (SB 54)
The most demanding US packaging EPR law, combining fees with source-reduction and recycling-rate mandates.
Packaging extended producer responsibility in the United States is built state by state. Each program defines its own covered materials, reporting units, fee schedule and deadlines, so a single national tonnage figure cannot satisfy any of them. What travels between states is the underlying data: component-level packaging records joined to state-resolved sales.
Start with the states you sell into, then check what is coming on the compliance calendar.
The most demanding US packaging EPR law, combining fees with source-reduction and recycling-rate mandates.
The first US program to reach producer reporting and fee collection at scale.
Statewide program funded by producers, with a needs assessment driving fee levels.
The first packaging EPR law enacted in the US, run through a state-contracted stewardship organisation.
Broad covered-material scope including paper products, phasing toward producer fees.
Producer registration and program planning underway ahead of fee collection.
Registration and reporting duties phasing in, with a July 1, 2026 milestone for producers.
Packaging reduction and recycled content requirements alongside producer responsibility.
Proposed packaging reduction and recycling legislation to watch, not yet an operating program.
Producers register with the state's producer responsibility organisation, in most states Circular Action Alliance, then report covered packaging weight and pay fees that fund collection and recycling. Fee schedules are moving toward eco-modulation, which prices recyclability rather than tonnage alone.
Check whether you are obligated with the EPR obligation checker, estimate cost with the EPR fee calculator, and read the EPR automation overview for how the reporting workflow fits together. Selling abroad too? See the EU hub and the UK hub.
No. Packaging EPR in the United States is enacted state by state, so scope, covered materials, reporting units, fee schedules and deadlines all differ. There is no single national filing.
You register with the producer responsibility organisation operating in each state. Most states have selected Circular Action Alliance, which gives a shared account, but the underlying data must still be resolved state by state.
Packaging weight by covered material category, attributable to sales into that state. That requires component-level packaging records joined to state-resolved sales volumes, not national totals.
Most states set de minimis thresholds by revenue or tonnage, but the thresholds differ and some exemptions cover fees only, leaving a registration or reporting duty in place.
Packgine keeps one packaging dataset and produces each state's report, fee forecast and audit trail from it.