If one more three-letter acronym makes your eyes glaze over, fair. But extended producer responsibility (EPR) deserves your attention because it doesn’t just live in the legal department. It can change operations, data, supplier conversations, and how you talk to customers. In short, EPR shifts part of the cost and accountability for packaging waste away from cities and taxpayers and onto the companies that sell products in that packaging.

That policy nudge matters because packaging is a big environmental issue: in the U.S., containers and packaging make up over 82.2 million tons of municipal solid waste annually, 28.1% of total waste. While relatively new and currently only at the state level in the U.S., EPR has been around since the 1990s in the European Union. If history repeats itself, federal EPR regulations are likely around the corner in the U.S.

For many companies, EPR might be their first push into sustainability. However, this can be segued into larger sustainability initiatives to make concrete changes that improve business success. That’s where Emerald Built Environments, a Crete United Company, comes into the picture. While we don’t solve packaging design, we help companies use compliance as the starting point for a broader sustainability strategy.

What EPR Packaging Compliance Means

What EPR Is (And Who’s Covered)

So what, exactly, does EPR packaging compliance require? EPR makes the producer, typically the U.S. brand owner or the first importer, financially and operationally responsible for packaging after it becomes waste. In the U.S., packaging EPR laws are live in California, Colorado, Oregon, Maine, Minnesota, Maryland, and Washington. Plus, several other states have policies under development.

Typical Obligations You’ll See

While unique by state, in general, EPR laws hold a few similar obligations for companies. First, companies must join a producer responsibility organization (PRO) and report the quantities of covered packaging materials they sold into the state, broken down by material type and form. While not an exhaustive list, common “covered materials” include single-use packaging, plastics, hazardous compounds, long-term packaging, and paint.

Second, the company pays fees to cover end-of-life processing of the materials. For example, in Oregon, there are material-specific base fees that scale with what you sell based on content, format, and recyclability. As a result, a widely recyclable, clearly labeled, single-material package should cost you less than a hard-to-recycle multilayer format.

Last, companies must meet, or be working towards, specific material recycling or reduction use goals. For example, SB 54 in California sets hard performance targets for 2032: 100% of covered items must be recyclable or compostable, 65% of single-use plastic packaging must be recycled, and producers must achieve a 25% reduction in single-use plastic packaging sold.

Why This Matters Beyond Packaging

EPR compliance pulls companies into the hard work most sustainability programs stumble on first: tracking what materials they buy, in what formats, from which suppliers, and where those materials go.

Once these data sets exist, it’s far easier to map core environmental criteria, like Scope 3 emissions and waste streams. The same datasets also align with rising ESG and investor disclosure expectations, from California's climate disclosure laws to the EU’s CSRD framework. Plus, these conversations with suppliers build the expectation and relationship that they will continue to provide important environmental data as sustainability programs expand.

With credible data in hand, teams can actually implement packaging improvements like consolidating SKUs, right-sizing packaging, and switching to higher-recyclability materials. On the broader sustainability front, the data can drive sustainable design, manufacturing, and logistics choices. These improvements will lower operational costs, reduce emissions, and strengthen customer and investor confidence.

In other words, EPR often becomes the realistic first step that opens the door to a broader, durable sustainability program.

What It Might Cost (and How States Set Fees)

While EPR isn’t designed to be punitive, it does come with real costs. Producers pay fees based on the materials and formats they use—essentially covering the downstream costs of recycling or disposal. These fees vary widely by state, but the structure is similar everywhere: the harder your packaging is to recycle, the more you’ll pay.

For example, Oregon has published early fee schedules showing that common plastics cost significantly more per pound than paper or aluminum. Maine takes  a different approach, with flat fees for smaller producers and higher, material-specific rates for large companies. And in California, regulators are introducing similar “eco-modulated” fees that reward packaging made from recycled or easily recyclable materials.

For companies selling high volumes of single-use packaging, those fees can add up. But there’s a silver lining: every improvement you make in design or material choice—like simplifying packaging, using recycled content, or switching to paper-based formats—can directly reduce what you owe.

The Risks of Treating EPR as a Box-Check

Failing to integrate EPR into broader sustainability efforts and treating it as a standalone compliance task can create operational drag. Suppose packaging data sits in a separate spreadsheet universe from ESG and supply-chain data. In that case, you invite rework, inconsistent supplier questionnaires, and credibility risks with major customers who expect a coherent sustainability narrative.

The fix is not more dashboards. It’s a lightweight, integrated plan that aligns EPR reporting with your broader ESG data model and communications.

How Emerald Helps Companies New to Sustainability

Here’s the candid part: Emerald isn’t a packaging design firm. We don’t engineer your box. We are sustainability consultants, and we do make compliance moments like EPR the catalyst for a right-sized sustainability program.

If you’re starting from scratch, we begin with a short assessment to translate the EPR scope into a baseline inventory, identify data gaps, and confirm what’s “must-have” for your deadlines. We then develop a sustainability roadmap that leverages the same EPR data for emissions reporting and other ESG criteria, enabling you to follow a consistent approach moving forward. This is the backbone of your sustainability program that you can keep coming back to, updating, and improving as your business changes.

If you need an internal narrative and external messaging that’s credible and clear, we draft that too. This helps you avoid both greenhushing and overclaiming while providing a cohesive public narrative. In simple terms: You don’t need to be a sustainability expert; that’s where we come in.

Want more information on what this process looks like? Check out our guide to Sustainability and Business Growth, plus a practical look at program costs.

Make EPR Your Launchpad: Let’s Build What’s Next

EPR packaging compliance isn’t the finish line; it’s the moment you develop durable data and habits that pay off across ESG, customer requirements, and future regulations. If you’re new to all of this, that’s fine; many teams are. Use EPR to build the muscle once and use it many times.

If you want help turning compliance pressure into a practical sustainability plan, let us know. We’ll meet you where you are and get you moving fast.