Extended producer responsibility (EPR) laws shift the cost and responsibility of managing packaging waste to the companies that put packaging into the marketplace. California’s SB 54, enacted in 2022, establishes the most sweeping packaging EPR law adopted to date, and requires covered producers to register, report detailed packaging data, fund recycling and waste reduction programs, and meet escalating recyclability and source reduction targets. The long awaited regulations adopted by the state agency charged with implementation, CalRecycle, took effect on 1 May 2026 and create new operational obligations for companies that manufacture, distribute, or sell covered products into California. “Covered products” generally include single-use packaging that is routinely recycled, disposed of, or discarded after its contents have been used or unpackaged, and typically is not refilled or otherwise reused by the producer, as well as plastic single-use food service utensils, although the
