By Matt Parker, Food Contact Subject Matter Expert
For expert-guided services and technology to help brands and manufacturers meet market demands for sustainable packaging, FoodChain ID is ready to help.
Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR) is a system in which companies responsible for placing products on the market pay fees to help pay for the end-of-life management of the product packaging. Multiple U.S. states have implemented EPR programs, and deadlines for complying with these programs are rapidly approaching. Oregon is the first state with an active program, with a requirement for companies to report the pounds of the covered products sold in the state, by material type, by March 31. The reporting values will cover materials sold by the company in the prior calendar year. Colorado and California follow, with reporting deadlines of July 31 and August 31, respectively.
As expected, not all EPR programs are the same. Each state has its own list of what they define as “covered materials.” For instance, covered materials in Oregon include most primary, secondary and tertiary packaging, excluding returnable pallets, if they are disposed of in the state. Whereas Colorado does not include secondary and tertiary packaging in business-to-business applications. Only packaging sold to, and disposed of by, the consumer is considered a covered material under the Colorado system. Other states with EPR programs coming online in the near future include Maine, Maryland and Minnesota. The Circular Action Alliance (CAA) is the Producer Responsibility Organization chosen by most of the states. The CAA is responsible for running the program, sending out invoices and collecting the fees.
