After the initial shock of New Jersey’s decision to extend a key exemption to its PCR mandates, US recyclers are working through the repercussions and searching for answers. At the same time, they are offering up their own resources to help the state understand what the decision means on a supplier level.
In a Sept. 4 memorandum, the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection (NJDEP) extended the exemption for rigid plastic containers that hold food. The exemption was set to expire Jan. 18, 2027, and now runs until Dec. 31, 2029. The state concluded in the memo that food-safe PCR technologies are not yet at sufficient scale for broader adoption.
The Recycled Content Law (S 2515) went into effect Jan. 18, 2022, and granted the five-year exemption for food containers. Since 2024, other rigid plastic containers have had to contain 10% PCR. That minimum rises by 10 percentage points every three years (to 20% in 2027) until it reaches 50%.
Plastic beverage containers and glass containers filled with a beverage were never part of the exemption and are not affected by the extension. They have been subject to a 15% PCR minimum since 2024, which rises by 5 percentage points every three years (to 20% in 2027) until it reaches 50%.
Contracts canceled, projects paused
According to recyclers who spoke with Plastics Recycling Update (PRU), the effects are most evident in canceled recycled resin contracts and a general pullback in buying intentions.
Brandon Shaw, president of Indianapolis-headquartered Plastic Recycling Inc. (PRI), told PRU that some investments have stalled as a direct result of the delay. Some food-grade resin projects that had been in development for two years have been paused, and other supply deals were canceled outright, he said.
Several other recyclers for various recycled polymers described similar scenarios playing out, but preferred to speak off the record because of the sensitive nature of customer and government relations.
As is typical for recyclers, Shaw said contracts come first, “then we invest, then we scale, then we ask for more supply. But we live in this uncertainty. It’s hard to do anything.”
A call for transparency, input
In its memo, the state cited “research” to support its decision but did not elaborate. Recyclers and industry associations said they want to see the data NJDEP used.
Kate Davenport, chief impact officer at The Recycling Partnership, called the decision disappointing. “We would welcome greater transparency into the research NJDEP used to conclude that food-safe PCR technologies are not yet at sufficient scale for broader adoption, including what that research shows about current supply chain capabilities to meet the mandated targets,” she said in a statement.
Laura Stewart, executive director of the National Association for PET Container Resources (NAPCOR), said in a statement that her group encourages NJDEP to be more transparent and to engage directly with stakeholders throughout the packaging supply chain. “NAPCOR stands ready to provide PET market data and industry expertise as part of that process.”
Kate Bailey, chief policy officer at the Association of Plastic Recyclers (APR), told PRU that New Jersey was right to phase in food-grade PCR for resins other than RPET. The problem, she said, is that the delay is a blanket action that treats all recycled plastics the same. (APR owns Resource Recycling, Inc., publisher of Plastics Recycling Update.)
“Plastics is not one thing, and plastic packaging is not one thing,” she said.
Bailey acknowledged that letting a state agency adjust timelines for unexpected circumstances can be part of good policy. Where the state failed, she said, was in skipping any public process for hearing from industry and recyclers.
Had APR known NJDEP was considering a delay, it could have provided feedback on recycler innovations, meeting food-contact packaging specifications and other concerns, she said.
The state responds
In a Sept. 14 emailed response to PRU questions about data transparency, NJDEP said: “The research is considered deliberative and confidential. However, the basis of the determination justifying the extension are [sic] outlined in the memorandum issued on 9/4/2026.”
In the same response, the state said it had “not yet received feedback from recyclers or suppliers regarding the decision to extend the exemption,” and that it “welcomes additional information and feedback from all industries that may be impacted by the exemption extension.” It also said “brand owners and end users have largely welcomed the decision to extend the exemption.”
In a Sept. 17 response to a PRU question about how it gathered input, the state said, “The NJDEP did not solicit feedback from brand owners, end users, recyclers, or suppliers. Instead, we relied on the best and most recently available science to inform this decision.”
The state did not provide detail on how it knew brand owners welcomed the decision if it had not solicited their feedback.
When asked about the timing of the decision, and whether it would consider other remedies, a state spokesperson replied: “We do not have any further information to share on the subject matter.”
Policy in the driver’s seat
APR and others have long emphasized that policy is a primary driver of demand for recycled materials.
Global companies often cite such mandates when they expand infrastructure and increase the share of PCR they use. For example, in its most recent sustainability report, global packager and recycler ALPLA attributed significant increases in its PCR share partly to the changing regulatory landscape. It cited India’s PCR mandate for rigid plastic packaging, which is 30% starting in 2025 and rises to 60% from 2028.
“Broadly delaying recycled-content requirements risks perpetuating the very supply challenges New Jersey says it wants to address,” NAPCOR’s Stewart said. “Recyclers and converters make long-term investments in equipment, capacity, and technology based on predictable demand. … The answer to constrained supply is not simply to reduce demand; it is to increase collection, strengthen domestic processing capacity, and create stable end markets.”
She added that although the extension does not cover beverage containers, “PET packaging markets and recycling systems are interconnected. Recycled PET (rPET) is neither new nor unproven: FDA has approved rPET for food-contact applications for more than 35 years.”
Alan Schrob, vice president of circular solutions for North America at chemical producer and plastic film recycler Borouge International (formerly Nova Chemicals), said in a statement that delaying implementation “risks weakening demand signals, slowing investment, and extending the time needed for recyclers to recover investments already made in anticipation of the 2027 requirements.”
Alternative paths under the law
Some stakeholders support using options the law already allows, such as temporary waivers granted case by case.
Schrob said targeted waivers “may be appropriate where supply constraints exist.” NAPCOR’s Stewart said the state should “reconsider the blanket extension and use targeted waivers to address legitimate, company-specific compliance challenges without delaying progress for businesses that are prepared to comply.”
Under the state’s waiver process, companies must provide third-party documentation showing they meet at least one of these criteria:
- The manufacturer cannot meet PCR content requirements and still comply with US FDA rules or other state or federal regulations
- It is not technically feasible for the manufacturer to meet the PCR content requirements
- The manufacturer cannot meet the requirements because recycled material is not available in sufficient supply, or because supply has been substantially disrupted
Two-year waivers already granted for non-food containers began expiring in April 2026, with a cluster of expirations in August.
The law also lets NJDEP require a temporarily exempt manufacturer to file an alternative compliance plan showing it is taking all feasible steps to reduce, collect, recycle and reuse its containers and to use postconsumer recycled content. NJDEP can also contract with trade associations to prepare and carry out those plans on behalf of their member manufacturers.
For now, Shaw said, the delay has “taught the market that waiting is the safe move.”
