California’s EPR Regulations In Effect: What You Need to Know

On May 1, California’s Office of Administrative Law approved the state’s long-anticipated Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR) regulation, implementing Senate Bill (SB) 54 (or the “Plastic Pollution Prevention and Packaging Producer Responsibility Act”), completing a three-year rulemaking process and putting into effect CalRecycle’s regulations and key compliance deadlines beginning June 1. Companies involved with the sale or distribution of packaged products in California need to quickly evaluate their obligations.

What is Senate Bill 54

EPR is an environmental policy approach that aims to reduce waste and mitigate related environmental and health impacts of certain products by shifting costs for the management of end-of-life products from consumers and governments to the producers, often through the assessment of fees to fund recycling and disposal. EPR requirements have been in place for some hazardous products (e.g. batteries) for some time and have been used more broadly in Europe (see our blog on proposed EU EPR changes). A number of U.S. states have recently enacted or introduced EPR requirements focused on packaging. Of the new U.S. state measures, California’s SB 54 is arguably the most expansive, requiring that all covered packaging materials sold in the state be recyclable or compostable by 2032, covering an estimated 5,000+ producers. The law also requires in-scope producers to pay $5 billion in fees over the next decade to address the impacts of plastic pollution.

• Covered Materials. The law defines plastics broadly, covering single-use packaging and plastic single-use food service ware, including food and beverage packaging, single-use cups, lids, and utensils, consumer product packaging, and e-commerce packaging, excluding packaging made with natural rubber or naturally occurring polymers like proteins and starches, as well as packaging for specific categories, like prescription pharmaceuticals.
• Covered Producers. Covered producers include producers that manufacture or import covered materials sold in California, or sell or license covered materials sold in California under a company’s own brand. However, there is a small producer exemption, subject to CalRecycle approval, for producers with gross sales in the state of less than $1 million in the most recent calendar year. Exempt small producers must still register with CalRecycle.
• June 1, 2026 Compliance Deadline. Covered producers must comply with the law within 30 days of the May 1 effective date (by June 1, since the 30^th day falls on a Sunday) by registering with CalRecycle, joining an approved Producer Responsibility Organization (PRO) or getting approval from CalRecycle for independent compliance, and adhering thereafter to baseline and annual reporting requirements.
• Penalties. Producers found to be noncompliant can be subjected to administrative civil penalties of up to $50,000 per day for each violation.

What’s New with this Finalized Regulation

SB 54 was signed into law on June 30, 2022, after earlier versions of the bill failed in 2019 and 2020. Since its passage, CalRecycle has drafted regulations and completed three public comment periods, including, most recently, a 15-day written comment period, which ended on February 13, 2026. This written comment period came on the heels of a January 9, 2026 decision by CalRecycle to pull its originally proposed SB 54 regulations from review by the Office of Administrative Law.

There are several changes between the finalized regulation and the originally proposed regulation: 

• Federal Preemption Exclusion Process. First, the regulation overhauled the federal preemption exclusion process for food and agricultural packaging producers, now requiring that producers seeking safe harbor show a conflict with SB 54 and a mandatory federal rule, regulation, or guideline issued by the Department of Agriculture or the Food and Drug Administration. Accompanying this change is a three-part substantiation requirement where the covered producer must show that there are no alternatives satisfying mandatory safety standards, and that the conflict cannot be avoided by eliminating the conflicting components or redesigning the packaging in its entirety.
• Electronic Submissions. Second, the regulation clarifies electronic submission requirements, e.g., to request exemptions, by email or online portal, as well as to register as a producer.
• Public Comment Process. Third, the regulation provides additional guidance for the public comment process when a PRO or independent producer submits a producer responsibility plan to the Packaging Producer Responsibility Advisory Board, including a 60-day window for such comments. 

With the finalization of these regulations, your company can prepare for compliance before the June 1 deadline by:

1. Determining whether your company is a covered producer. The analysis is two-fold: first, whether your company manufactures, imports, sells or licenses covered materials sold in California. For example, the distribution of branded envelopes, statement packaging, marketing mailers, and card carriers may trigger coverage. Likewise, branded packaging, including polybags, plastic hangtags, branded shipping boxes, tissue paper with plastic components, and garment bags, are also likely covered by the regulation. Second, whether your company is the responsible covered producer in the distribution chain. Companies should consult counsel to assist with these determinations.
2. Registering electronically with CalRecycle: Every covered producer must register with CalRecycle within 30 days of the regulations taking into effect, so by June 1. This deadline applies even when an exemption is being sought.
3. Joining a PRO or applying as an Independent Producer: Every covered producer must either join a PRO or apply as an Independent Producer by June 1. The Circular Action Alliance (CAA) has been selected by CalRecycle as the approved PRO for implementing the California EPR program. When applying to a PRO, producers must also submit 2023 calendar year supply data, which includes information such as the total weight of each covered material sold, distributed, or imported into California. For the vast majority of companies, joining a PRO is the only practical option. Independent Producer status requires submitting your own plan, budget, needs assessment support, end market audits, and environmental mitigation surcharge, all of which may be prohibitively expensive for companies that aren't packaging-industry specialists.
4. Building internal systems now: If your company does not already do so, it will be important to establish internal systems, such as a packaging inventory database that details every covered material item by SKU or UPC, or that describes the products’ physical characteristics. Such systems facilitate compliance with the regulations. Moreover, should you receive a written request by CalRecycle to produce records, you will need to produce such records within 10 calendar days.

In order to support compliance, CalRecyle also published on May 1 a producer guidance website. The website hosts various resources, including reporting guidance for covered materials and source reduction, and will also make available in the coming weeks a situational screening tool to help evaluate if your company falls in-scope of SB 54.

EPR Laws and Regulations Nationwide and Globally

In addition to California, other states, including Colorado, Maine, Minnesota, Maryland, Oregon, and Washington, have passed EPR and packaging laws and regulations. Some recent developments include:

• Oregon’s Plastic Pollution and Recycling Modernization Act expands access to recycling services and shifts the burden of paying for such improvements to producers and manufacturers of packaged items, paper products, and food service ware. Currently, the law is being litigated in National Association of Wholesaler-Distributors (NAW) v. Feldon, where enforcement of this law has been enjoined—with regard to NAW and its members.
• In February, Georgia introduced House Bill 1237 (or the “Pollution Prevention and Producer Responsibility Act of 2026”), which would establish a Producer Responsibility Advisory Board and cover packaging, paper products, and beverage containers sold or distributed in Georgia.
• Hawaii also passed a law mandating an EPR needs assessment as it seeks to develop its own EPR program for consumer-facing packaging. This statewide assessment is intended to help the state government identify infrastructure gaps, implementation costs, and resources to establish its own EPR program.

More globally, Europe’s Packaging and Packaging Waste Regulation (PPWR) will become effective on August 12, 2026. PPWR includes new European Union requirements on packaging design, sustainability, and labeling, such as mandating that all packaging be recyclable and that any plastic part of packaging contains between 10% and 35% recycled materials. You can read more about PPWR and the EU’s broader Environmental Omnibus here: The ‘E‘ of ESG: Environmental Omnibus.