Washington Adopts EPR Program

On May 17^th, Washington Governor Bob Ferguson signed into law SB 5284, legislation establishing an Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR) program for consumer packaging waste that passed the legislature in the final days of the 2025 session.  The new law is modeled on Minnesota’s EPR program and covers primary, secondary and tertiary packaging materials made of paper, plastic, metal or glass.  It requires each covered producer to appoint a producer responsibility organization (PRO) by January 1, 2026 and then be registered with the PRO by July 1, 2026.  It provides an exemption for “de minimis producers” meaning a producer that: introduced less than 1 ton of covered materials in its prior fiscal year; has a global gross revenue, not including on-premises alcohol sales, of less than $5 million in the prior fiscal year; or is an agricultural employer regardless of where the agricultural employer is located, with less than $5 million in gross revenue in Washington from consumer sales of agricultural commodities sold under the brand name of the agricultural employer.  The bill also contains provisions that could result in the establishment of a bottle deposit system.