Re-TRAC CEO Josh Reid explains why consistently collected, standardized data is vital for the recycling industry’s future. | Joyseulay/Shutterstock
With negative mainstream media coverage eroding public trust in recycling, now is the time to make changes, and an important piece of those improvements is accurate, standardized data collection.
California sent a handful of bills to the governor’s desk, including bills on food waste, plastic film, and the deposit return system. | Jonathan-Lenz/Shutterstock
Several states have late summer ends to their legislative sessions, including New Hampshire, Massachusetts and California, and in the final days several recycling related bills passed.
Eco-modulation is commonly introduced after an EPR program is established, as it requires a strong foundation of data. | Olivier-Le-Moal/Shutterstock
Many recycling industry players and brands are now familiar with the base concept of extended producer responsibility for packaging, but now advisory boards, producer responsibility organizations and state regulators are working on another complex, interrelated concept: fee eco-modulation.
Eureka Recycling, which operates a MRF in Minneapolis, supported the packaging EPR bill. | Courtesy of Eureka Recycling
After months of collaboration and negotiation, stakeholders in Minnesota walked away with an extended producer responsibility bill for packaging that had elements both familiar and unique, and an overarching question: Is this the first state in a new wave of EPR or a continuation of early adopters?
Graphic by Eunomia Consulting
Across the United States, there is growing consideration among advocates and legislators regarding the role of policy in advancing recycling services to ensure equitable access and opportunity to residents while maximizing environmental and economic outcomes. This is exemplified through recent progress in extended producer responsibility policy for packaging. In 2024, nine states – from New York to Tennessee – have introduced legislation for packaging EPR, with the Minnesota governor recently signing an EPR bill, while the four states that have already passed EPR are rapidly moving through implementation phases.
The Packaging Reduction and Recycling Infrastructure Act AB 5322 in the Assembly Codes committee and its companion bill, SB 4246, is in the Senate finance committee. | robert-paul-van-beet/Shutterstock
New York legislators are once again pushing to become the fifth state in the U.S. to implement extended producer responsibility for packaging.
The first packaging data reporting deadlines for extended producer responsibility programs will hit in 2025, but gathering the needed data will take time and help from up and down the value chain. | A9-STUDIO/Shutterstock
In about a year, companies will be required to start reporting various data under four different extended producer responsibility laws as well as some recycled content and labeling laws. Many are still not ready, industry stakeholders cautioned.
Nine states are looking to enact extended producer responsibility packaging, and Hawai’i chose to put a “pre-EPR” bill into play. | Paul-Brady-Photography/Shutterstock
Extended producer responsibility for paper and packaging is once again a hot topic in statehouses across the country.
The level of activity follows expert predictions that 2024 would see an influx of right-to-repair consumer electronics bills. | skimin0k/Shutterstock
There are over 25 bills establishing the right to repair consumer items in play across the U.S., and more than a dozen of those cover consumer electronics.
The California Department of Department of Resources Recycling and Recovery facilitated several meetings centered on SB 54 in early February. | ksanawo/Shutterstock
The first few days of February saw several big moments for California’s extended producer responsibility law for packaging, with a first advisory board meeting and a well-attended public question-and-answer session.