Packaging EPR Update: Week of July 20, 2026

Enforcement  |  OR

On July 16, 2026 the parties in Lollicup USA v. Feldon filed a stipulation, which the court entered, under which Oregon DEQ's Materials Management Program will not issue pre-enforcement notices against Lollicup USA or any member of the putative class through at least August 31, 2026, extendable by written consent. DEQ retains authority to investigate, issue warning letters, and conduct other pre-enforcement activity. Read the limit carefully: the Circular Action Alliance is not a party to the stipulation and may continue assessing fees, pursuing compliance actions, and publishing non-compliance lists. Lollicup's litigation deadlines are suspended pending the decision in NAW v. Feldon, with a joint status report due September 10, 2026. The docket number is not yet publicly confirmed. Source: Arnold and Porter, Environmental Edge (July 22, 2026).

Comment Period  |  MN

MPCA's Request for Comments on rulemaking to implement the Packaging Waste and Cost Reduction Act (Minn. Stat. 115A.1455) closed on July 24, 2026 at 4:30 p.m., docket sw-rule3-06a. This was a first-stage request for comments rather than a proposed-rule comment period, so no draft rule text exists yet and further comment opportunities are expected before any rule is adopted. The Packaging EPR Advisory Board met on July 15, 2026 in St. Paul. Minnesota producer fees do not begin until 2029, but the rules that decide how those fees are calculated are being written now. Source: Minnesota Pollution Control Agency, Request for Comments, docket sw-rule3-06a; Policy Pickup (July 23, 2026).

Update  |  ME

Maine DEP survey data shows roughly 80 municipalities, about 18 percent of the state's total and including Portland and South Portland, have indicated they will participate in the packaging EPR program. Twenty declined and the majority did not respond. DEP's tracker places the program at step four of nine, contracting with a Stewardship Organization, with producer registration and invoicing anticipated by the end of 2026 and municipal reimbursements potentially beginning by the end of 2027. Because producer fees fund municipal reimbursement, participation levels are a direct signal on the size of the Maine cost base in year one. Proposals in response to DEP's Stewardship Organization RFP remain due August 3, 2026. Source: Bangor Daily News (July 20, 2026).

Deadline  |  CAA

Circular Action Alliance has scheduled four public webinars worth a producer's calendar. August 5, 2026: Understanding California Program Fees, covering CAA's fee-setting approach. It falls inside the SB 54 program plan comment period closing August 14 and speaks directly to the fee-transparency questions at the center of the Oregon litigation. August 12, 2026: Oregon Program Plan 2028 to 2032, eco-modulation and responsible end markets. August 19, 2026: Oregon education, outreach and equity. September 2, 2026: Oregon materials, the Uniform Statewide Collection List, and RecycleOn Centers. The Oregon series opens the second Oregon plan cycle, which is where the next round of eco-modulation gets decided. Register through the CAA events page. Source: Circular Action Alliance events calendar (July 2026).

Comment Period  |  WA

Washington's Recycling Reform Act advisory council has released a first draft of the statewide collection lists (Statewide Lists V1) for review under E2SSB 5284. The council's Statewide Lists Subcommittee meets virtually on August 4 and August 10, 2026, with a full advisory council meeting on August 13, and a public comment period on the draft lists opens in August, ahead of the standardized statewide collection lists that Ecology plans to publish by October 2026. These lists will define which materials are collected statewide, a key input to covered-product scope and eco-modulation. Source: Washington Department of Ecology (July 2026); RRA Advisory Council; Waste360, Marissa Heffernan (July 23, 2026).

Deadline  |  CA

Producers of plastic covered packaging must file an Individual Source Reduction Plan (ISRP) with the Circular Action Alliance through its Producer Portal no later than August 1, 2026 (CAA may adjust the date as rulemaking settles; confirm in the portal). The plan forecasts how the producer will reach SB 54's reduction targets, 10% by 2027, 20% by 2030, and 25% by 2032, measured against a 2023 baseline, with minimum reuse, refill, or elimination shares of 2%, 4%, and 10%. There is no public template; reporting fields sit behind portal registration. A free ISRP prep worksheet is on the California page. Source: Circular Action Alliance, California producer guidance.

Litigation  |  OR

The five-day bench trial in NAW v. Feldon concluded on July 17, 2026 in the U.S. District Court for the District of Oregon. Judge Michael Simon said from the bench that he had not yet decided how to rule and will issue his decision on the Recycling Modernization Act's constitutionality by the end of August 2026. Following trial, Judge Simon directed the parties to address six specific questions in post-trial briefs due July 31, 2026, and set August 3, 2026 as the deadline for any motion seeking additional oral argument. The briefing is not symmetric across the claims: the court indicated the dormant Commerce Clause issues are fully briefed and need no further submission, and the six questions are weighted to the procedural due process claim, covering whether a protected property interest exists, what process is constitutionally required, arbitration precedents, available remedies, the significance of delegating program administration to a private PRO, and whether confidentiality challenges require exhausting public records procedures first. The February 6, 2026 preliminary injunction continues to shield only NAW members pending the ruling; all other producers remain fully subject to registration, reporting, fees, and DEQ enforcement. Source: Oregon Capital Chronicle (July 17, 2026); Waste360, Marissa Heffernan (July 23, 2026); Foley and Lardner via National Law Review (July 23, 2026).

Update  |  OR

On July 2, 2026 Circular Action Alliance published its first Oregon annual report covering the program's first year: more than 2,900 participating producers, $167.9 million in producer fee revenue, 409,000+ tons of covered products reported, and 144,000+ tons processed in six months, with 20 new RecycleOn Centers and 42,000+ recycling carts funded, against about $56.5 million in program expenditures. CAA also reported fewer eco-modulation bonus applications than it had anticipated in this first cycle, a signal that many producers have not yet pursued the available fee reductions. CAA describes 2025 as a build year, with full system implementation targeted by the end of 2027. Source: Circular Action Alliance (July 2, 2026); Packaging Dive (July 8, 2026); Waste360, Marissa Heffernan (July 23, 2026).

Litigation  |  CA

On July 1, 2026 the American Chemistry Council and the Alliance of California's Farmers and Ranchers filed motions to intervene in the environmental groups' challenge to the SB 54 regulations (Oceana, NRDC, and Californians Against Waste Foundation v. CalRecycle, San Francisco Superior Court). Separately, the 17-state attorneys general and NAW federal challenge to SB 54 (E.D. Cal.) has been publicly reported as case No. 2:26-at-01047. That is the Eastern District of California's temporary pre-assignment number, applied to newly received filings before a permanent civil action number issues, and it is not a sealing designation; the permanent docket number is not yet confirmed. NAW's own announcement gives the caption as State of Nebraska et al. v. Heller et al. The complaint also raises a First Amendment claim against SB 54's prohibition on disclosing EPR costs on customer receipts. Source: Packaging Dive (July 10, 2026).

Legislative  |  FEDERAL

The House Energy and Commerce Subcommittee on Commerce, Manufacturing, and Trade held its legislative hearing on July 22, 2026. The PACK Act (H.R. 6832), which would create FTC-administered federal labeling standards, and the Recycled Materials Attribution Act (H.R. 7502) were 2 of 12 bills on a broad consumer protection docket rather than the subjects of a dedicated packaging hearing. John Hewitt of the Consumer Brands Association and the Recycling Leadership Council testified in support of both; John Breyault of the National Consumers League opposed both, arguing the PACK Act would preempt state labeling standards without a strong federal baseline and that the RMAA would legitimize mass balance accounting. No markup, vote, or next step was announced, and both bills remain referred to committee with no action recorded. Producers should note the preemption design: as described by supporters, states would be barred from requirements that differ from the federal framework, which is field preemption rather than a federal floor. The California law the PACK Act would displace, SB 343, is itself currently enjoined. Source: House Energy and Commerce Committee hearing docket, EventID 119489; Packaging Dive (July 23, 2026).

Update  |  ME

Proposals in response to Maine DEP's June 15 Stewardship Organization RFP are due August 3, 2026; CAA has said it intends to respond. DEP now anticipates producer registration and invoicing will begin at the end of 2026 and municipal reimbursements may begin at the end of 2027, with producer guidance expected in summer 2026. Once the selected SO opens its registration mechanism, producers will have 90 days to register. Source: Maine DEP (July 2026); Sustainable Packaging Coalition (June 22, 2026).

Site Update

The Design for Recyclability Rater is now live in beta. Build a package component by component and it scores the design against APR and How2Recycle recyclability logic, then maps the result to each active EPR state: California from the SB 54 CMC list, Oregon from its Uniform Statewide Collection List, and the other active states shown as pending. You get a DfR score, a recyclable-weight share, likely How2Recycle labels per component, an EPR fee-risk read, and re-scored design moves that raise the score. It is a planning estimate, not a compliance or on-pack-claim determination, and feedback on the tool shapes the next iteration. Source: EPRAtlas.com.