Rhode Island’s Statewide Implementation Analysis, required by R.I. Gen. Laws ch. 23-19.19 and enacted by H6207 of the 2025 session, is being carried out by
RRS (Resource Recycling Systems) for RIDEM and the Rhode Island Resource Recovery Corporation, with Resa Dimino as project director. The published project timeline is a
draft report to RIDEM on September 1, 2026, a
final report on November 1, 2026, and
RIDEM transmitting it to the Governor on December 1, 2026.
RRS is modelling
five program plans: an “As Is” program,
EPR stand alone, a deposit return system stand alone, the proposed legislation (H6207 and S0996), and one further option RRS will suggest after the needs assessment. Each is assessed on key elements, system needs, a SWOT analysis, an implementation schedule, impact analysis and cost benefit analysis. The Rhode Island Redemption and Recycling Advisory Council is seated and has met twice, on June 9 and July 14, 2026, with agendas, presentations and minutes posted; public input workshops were held July 21 and public comment remains open through SmartComment.
What this means for you: nothing to comply with. Rhode Island has no EPR program, no producer registration and no fees, and all four packaging bills introduced there in 2026 died. Two things are worth knowing anyway. The date to watch is
September 1, not December 1: December is when the finished report reaches the Governor, September is when the analysis first exists. And a stand-alone packaging EPR program is being costed on its own merits rather than only as a component of a bottle bill, which is how the last several states arrived at an EPR law. Source:
RIDEM, Statewide Implementation Analysis and the
RRS Advisory Council Meeting #1 deck (June 9, 2026), both read August 30, 2026.