State leaders who’re advancing prolonged producer accountability for packaging insurance policies and applications have a rising variety of counterparts to study from and lean on.
Quite a few state lawmakers and regulators mentioned implementation updates and the way they’re speaking and collaborating throughout states in the course of the 2025 U.S. Product Stewardship Discussion board in Wheeling, Illinois, final week.
A panel dialogue with state regulators revealed insights from states which might be slightly farther alongside of their packaging EPR improvement, together with Oregon and California, and states which might be newer to the method, particularly Minnesota and Maryland.
Oregon is barreling towards its program launch on July 1 — and is prepared — mentioned Cheryl Grabham, supplies administration program supervisor with the Oregon Division of Environmental High quality.
California is in a distinct stage. CalRecycle is reviewing additional comments on draft laws for its packaging EPR legislation after restarting the method earlier this 12 months. An financial evaluation for the laws is coming quickly, mentioned CalRecycle Director Zoe Heller.
There are different deliverables within the works, too. Heller famous she was just lately briefed on a fabric characterization research to higher perceive how a lot packaging and single-use meals service ware is taking over area in California’s landfills, which is predicted to be launched July 1.
California additionally intends to publish a wants evaluation subsequent 12 months. One side of that’s what California might want to scale up reuse, “a reasonably nascent business with a number of alternative,” Heller highlighted.
Panelists additionally mentioned alternatives for harmonization throughout states via rulemaking. PSI just lately launched a harmonization process pressure to contemplate a few of these points.
Minnesota was the fifth U.S. state to undertake a packaging EPR legislation, permitting it to attract on previous state applications and legal guidelines, mentioned Mallory Anderson, packaging EPR coordinator with the Minnesota Air pollution Management Company. A precedence space going ahead is harmonizing ecomodulation charges and incentives in order that “in the event you’re paying one set of charges in a single state and one other in one other state … they do not cancel one another out.”
Maryland, which is simply starting its course of after passing a law in Could, is “studying and leaning into why totally different states are making selections and the way it works inside Maryland’s framework,” mentioned Shannon McDonald, pure useful resource planner with the Maryland Division of the Setting.
Regulators additionally detailed their biggest unsuspected challenges.
“Having to reinitiate the regulatory process,” Heller mentioned with out lacking a beat.
Oregon’s Grabham mentioned that all through implementation, she’s been routinely stunned by which seemingly small subject finally ends up requiring a number of time, power and collaboration, one instance being the sorts of pictures used on training supplies.
Minnesota’s Anderson famous that there’s been some confusion amongst stakeholders about which celebration owns which a part of the implementation course of. “I feel generally folks count on the company to do issues that we have assigned to different teams,” comparable to Round Motion Alliance, the appointed producer accountability group. “There’s been a studying curve there,” she mentioned.
Different states are nonetheless within the early phases of introducing, contemplating and adopting EPR. A separate panel that includes audio system who work in Tennessee, Oklahoma and Nebraska lined methods for constructing capability for numerous sorts of EPR, together with for packaging, batteries and paint.
Tennessee state Sen. Heidi Campbell mentioned gradual efforts to develop assist for the Tennessee Waste to Jobs Act, packaging EPR laws that she launched in early 2025.
Tennessee state Sen. Heidi Campbell (second from left) speaks on the U.S. Product Stewardship Discussion board in Wheeling, Illinois, on June 4, 2025.
Permission granted by Kristina Benoist/Product Stewardship Institute
Campbell famous she’s considered one of a small minority of Democrats in Tennessee’s Senate. “All the pieces may be very political proper now,” she mentioned. “EPR would not, I consider, should be political.”
Step one within the course of has been studying the way to speak about it, she mentioned, including that environmental advantages are usually not a profitable message in Tennessee.
“We have to speak in regards to the enterprise upside, the financial benefits. That is actually what resonates with the those who I have to get on board with it,” Campbell mentioned, noting she treats this effort like a marketing campaign. “We have been going throughout the state of Tennessee and simply constructing a grassroots motion, after which concurrently constructing enterprise assist by going out to businesses who want the materials.”
