Colorado packaging EPR

Who's covered

Colorado's law covers packaging and paper products (flyers, catalogs, magazines and the like) that reach residents.³ The law calls these covered materials. The program starts with homes and expands to schools, public places and small businesses later in the decade.⁴

Colorado's rules identify the producer in this order:^2,3

• The brand owner that directs or performs the manufacturing.
• The licensee that directs the manufacturing.
• The manufacturer, if the product carries no brand.
• The US importer, if none of the above is in the United States.
• For online sales, there are two equally obligated producers: one for the product packaging and one for the shipping packaging. Colorado's rules identify each one using the same order above.
• For service packaging added at the point of sale, such as takeout containers, the franchisor is responsible if it has franchisees in Colorado.

More on how these rules work in Are you the producer?

Exemptions

You're exempt if you had either:^5,6

• Gross revenue (the law's term is “realized gross revenue”) under a threshold that is adjusted for inflation each July 1. From July 1, 2026, the threshold is $5,779,297. The rule setting this figure took effect July 15, 2026.
• Under 1 ton of covered materials sold or distributed into Colorado in the prior year.

Government entities, nonprofits, individual retail food establishments at a physical location, and certain agricultural employers and building contractors are also exempt. The revenue test excludes on-premises alcohol sales. Excluded materials include business-to-business packaging, packaging for durable products with a life of five years or more, packaging for products the FDA regulates as drugs, medical devices or dietary supplements, and architectural paint containers.^3,6

What you have to do

• Participate in the program. Since July 1, 2025, a producer may not sell or distribute products in covered materials in Colorado unless it participates in the program run by the producer responsibility organization (PRO).¹ The PRO is Circular Action Alliance (CAA). A separate program run by Interchange 360 covers automotive lubricant packaging.⁷
• Report annually. Producers report to CAA the weight of covered materials they supplied into Colorado in the prior year, by material category. 2025 data was due May 31, 2026.⁸
• Pay dues. Colorado's program calls producer fees “dues.” CAA invoices them in two halves, in January and July. 2026 dues are based on 2024 data, and 2027 dues on 2025 data.^8,9

The state regulator, the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment (CDPHE), approved CAA's program plan in December 2025. The plan sets out how CAA runs the program. Dues began in January 2026, and the statewide program launched in June 2026.^8,10

What it costs

Dues are set per pound for each of about 60 material categories, based on the net cost of recycling that material.¹¹ CAA published the 2027 schedule on October 1, 2026:^9,12

Selected categories from CAA's 2026 and 2027 Colorado dues schedules.

Flat dues for small volumes

Producers supplying 10 short tons or less can pay a flat amount instead:^9,12

Eco-modulation

Colorado adjusts rates up and down based on recyclability:^2,9

• A 5% surcharge for design features that disrupt recycling.
• Materials not on the state's Minimum Recyclables List (the materials the program must collect for recycling statewide) cost at least 20% more than comparable listed materials. Materials that aren't collected at all pay a further premium of at least 10%.
• A 5% reduction for materials with high recycling rates.
• Optional bonuses for qualifying improvements, once the state finalizes the benchmarks.

For context, the program's 2026 budget was estimated at $215 million to $267 million.¹³ CAA says about 67 cents of every dollar goes to collection and 18 cents to processing.⁹

Enforcement

Penalties are set by statute and increase with repeat violations:¹⁴

Penalties are imposed by administrative order, and producers can request a hearing. The bigger practical risk is market access: producers that don't participate can't sell covered products in Colorado.¹

The law is being challenged. The National Association of Wholesaler-Distributors (NAW) filed a federal lawsuit in July 2026 on constitutional grounds, similar to its Oregon case, and a lubricants trade group sued in state court in March 2026. Both have asked for preliminary injunctions. As of our review date, no court had ruled on them, and the program continues.^15,16 On October 13, 2026, CDPHE (the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment, which runs the program) asked the court to dismiss part of NAW's case. NAW's preliminary injunction request is still pending.¹⁷ On October 15, the Auto Care Association moved to join NAW's case as a plaintiff. It challenges the state's direction that some producers of lubricants and petroleum products register with, report to and pay dues to two organizations, Interchange 360 and CAA. The court hasn't ruled on that motion, and no compliance deadline has changed.¹⁸

What's changing

• Most rates are rising. Of Colorado's 61 categories, 44 are higher in 2027 than in 2026, 13 are lower and 4 are unchanged (2026 schedule, pages 1 and 2; 2027 schedule, pages 2 and 3). HDPE/LDPE film rose about 29%, and aluminum and steel containers rose by half or more from a low base. Five of the falls are 2¢ or less. The largest were nursery pots and trays, which roughly halved from 79¢ to 40¢, and PP squeeze tubes, which fell from 73¢ to 58¢.^9,12
• Scope is expanding. The program reaches schools from 2028, then hospitality and small businesses by 2030.⁴
• Targets. The plan aims to raise the recycling rate to 41% by 2030 and 55% by 2035.⁴
• Appeals. A 2026 bill to create an appeals process for producer dues passed the Senate in May 2026 but did not become law.^19,20

What to do now

1. Check the exemption tests against the new inflation-adjusted revenue threshold.
2. If you sell online, confirm who is reporting the shipping packaging, since Colorado treats it as a separate obligation.
3. Budget for 2027 dues using the new rates.
4. Review your Minimum Recyclables List exposure. Materials not on the list carry a built-in premium.

Related guides

Sources

1. C.R.S. 25-17-708 (participation required to sell). colorado.public.law
2. 6 CCR 1007-2, Part 1, Section 18 (producer responsibility rules). law.cornell.edu
3. C.R.S. 25-17-703 (definitions). colorado.public.law
4. Circular Action Alliance, Colorado amended program plan (December 2025). PDF
5. C.R.S. 25-17-713 (exemptions). colorado.public.law
6. Colorado CDPHE, Producer responsibility FAQ. CDPHE FAQ
7. Colorado CDPHE, Extended producer responsibility program. cdphe.colorado.gov
8. Personal Care Products Council, Colorado EPR summary (May 2026). PDF
9. Circular Action Alliance, Colorado 2027 dues schedule (Oct. 1, 2026). circularactionalliance.org
10. Circular Action Alliance, “Colorado program plan approved”. circularactionalliance.org
11. C.R.S. 25-17-705 (producer dues). colorado.public.law
12. Circular Action Alliance, Colorado 2026 dues schedule (Oct. 13, 2025). circularactionalliance.org
13. Colorado Sun, “Colorado recycling packaging fee expansion,” Dec. 18, 2025. coloradosun.com
14. C.R.S. 25-17-710 (penalties). colorado.public.law
15. Foley & Lardner, “Colorado EPR faces a second, broader constitutional challenge,” July 2026. foley.com
16. EPR Atlas, NAW v. Ryan (Colorado). epratlas.com
17. Foley & Lardner, “Colorado takes a page from Oregon's playbook and tries to partially dismiss EPR challenge,” Oct. 16, 2026 (National Law Review). natlawreview.com
18. Foley & Lardner, “Double billed for recycling? What Colorado producers need to know about overlapping EPR fees,” Oct. 16, 2026. foley.com
19. Colorado General Assembly, SB26-192. leg.colorado.gov
20. Sustainable Packaging Coalition, packaging policy news, Sept. 23, 2026. sustainablepackaging.org

What changed

• October 19, 2026 Litigation: CDPHE's October 13 motion to dismiss part of NAW's case, and the Auto Care Association's October 15 motion to join it over dues paid to two organizations.
• October 12, 2026 Excluded materials now name all three kinds of FDA-regulated products the law covers: drugs, medical devices and dietary supplements.
• October 11, 2026 Corrected how we describe the 2027 dues changes: 44 of 61 categories rose, 13 fell and 4 were unchanged.
• October 9, 2026 Second review: Oregon producer status list counts and the September 4 list, California's reuse and source-reduction fee, Bonus A caps, and source links.
• October 5, 2026 Corrected and updated after a source-by-source review, including the 2027 fee schedules published October 1, 2026.
• October 2, 2026 First published.

General information, not legal advice. This guide summarizes laws, rules and program documents as we read them on the review date above. These programs change often, and how a law applies depends on your products, contracts and facts. For a formal opinion, consult counsel. Producer Desk is not a law firm.