The state’s Packaging Waste and Cost Reduction Act, or HF 3911, was passed in 2024 and is still in the early stages of implementation. This makes the infrastructure decisions being made right now critical to shaping how the program performs for decades.
At the MN-ND SWANA conference, panelists from the Circular Action Alliance, Eureka Recycling and the Tri County Solid Waste Commission laid out where things currently stand and identified where the gaps are.
The needs assessment is due by end of 2026, the stewardship plan by October 2028 and producers just received access to a new reporting portal in early April.
However, the hard part isn’t the timeline, panelists said. It’s solving end markets, rural access and reuse before the law outpaces the system. They acknowledged the lawsuits overshadowing Oregon and Colorado and argued the state’s transparency provisions were deliberate design choices to avoid the same friction.
Minnesota’s extended producer responsibility (EPR) law has a defined scope, and industry confusion about what’s covered is the real challenge.
“We are not PaintCare. We are not automobile packaging. We are not a lot of things. We do need to figure out how to collaborate with programs that already exist,” said Kris Coperine, program manager, Circular Action Alliance.
In February, the state completed a preliminary needs assessment, an early step on the path to implementing its program, compiled by Eunomia. The report details findings on the state’s current management of packaging and paper products covered under the EPR law, including tonnage of materials as well as an overview of existing infrastructure and available markets.
The legislation covers packaging, food packaging and paper products, as well as boat wrap, making Minnesota the first state to include the material in an EPR program. Exemptions apply to packaging for drugs and medical devices, certain hazardous materials, bound books and select food packaging categories. Electronics, glass, utensils and other problem materials at MRFs are outside the law entirely.
“From the MRF’s perspective, this is going to help some of the issues we see, but not all of them,” said Miriam Holsinger, co-president and COO of Eureka Recycling. “A lot of the problems we see, the material that comes in our facility that we don’t like. Electronics is a big one. There’s a different bill that’s going forward… but it is not covered in this law at all.”
In addition, expanding collection without solving where recovered material goes will undermine the program. Cleaner bales and domestic market development are the real benchmarks, Coperine indicated.
“End market systems – without them, recycling has issues,” Coperine said. “If collection is done better, if processing is done better, then the bales are going to be cleaner. And if we start having more of the materials collected and processed and recirculated in Minnesota, then we have a really strong chance of having a strong domestic market here.”
The next milestone in the process is an additional needs assessment due December 31, 2026, which will establish an official baseline for program measures and outcomes, including proposals for statewide requirements and offer recommendations on where investments should be directed across collection, sorting and responsible markets.
The assessment will include a methodology for reimbursing service providers, evaluate environmental improvements and accountability mechanisms and identify best practices for education and outreach.
