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Washington packaging EPR

Washington's Recycling Reform Act passed in 2025 and is the newest packaging EPR law. Producers must already belong to a PRO, and the program itself rolls out in 2030.

Producer DeskLast reviewed October 2, 20263-minute readStarting up

At a glance

Status
Start-up. PRO membership required after July 1, 2026. Program from 2030.1,2
Law
RCW 70A.208 (Recycling Reform Act, E2SSB 5284, 2025).3
PRO
Circular Action Alliance.
What's covered
Packaging and paper products supplied to consumers, including food serviceware.
Small-producer exemption
Under $5M global gross revenue, or under 1 ton.
Sales restriction
Non-members may not introduce covered materials from March 1, 2029.
Penalties
Up to $1,000 per day, $10,000 for later violations.

Who's covered

Washington covers packaging and paper products supplied to consumers for personal, noncommercial use, including food serviceware.4 The producer is identified in this order:4

  • The manufacturer, if the product is sold under its own brand or carries no brand.
  • The licensee, a company licensed to make and sell the product under someone else's brand.
  • The brand owner.
  • The US importer of record, if none of the above is in the United States.
  • The first distributor into the state.

Shipping packaging for online sales belongs to “the person that packages the item to be shipped to the consumer.” Franchisors are the producer when they have franchisees in Washington. Responsibility can be assigned to another company by mutually signed agreement, if that company joins a PRO and the PRO receives written certification.4 See Are you the producer?

Exemptions

A de minimis producer is exempt: one with under 1 ton of covered materials in its most recent fiscal year, or global gross revenue under $5 million. The revenue threshold is adjusted for inflation from 2031.4 Government entities and 501(c)(3) and (c)(4) organizations are also excluded.

Exempt materials include packaging for infant formula, medical food, FDA-regulated drugs and devices, and veterinary drugs; EPA-regulated pesticides; hazardous and flammable products; durable products of five years or more; and producer-to-producer packaging.4

What you have to do, and when

Washington's law took effect in July 2025. Ecology designated Circular Action Alliance as the PRO in March 2026, and a separate program covers lubricant packaging.5,6

DateMilestone
January 1, 2026Each producer must appoint a PRO
May 31, 2026CAA collected simplified 2025 supply data from producers
After July 1, 2026Producers must be PRO members or register individually
October 1, 2028PRO plan due
March 1, 2029Non-members may not introduce covered materials into the state
2030Program implementation begins

Sources: RCW 70A.208.030 and .040; Ecology; CAA.1,5,6,7

To join, producers register with CAA, sign its producer agreement, report supply data and pay fees.6

What it will cost

Full producer fees will start once the PRO's plan is approved, around the end of the decade. CAA may charge some fees before then to fund start-up costs. Washington's statute sets no numeric recycling targets. Instead, Ecology sets statewide requirements for recycling, reuse, source reduction and recycled content, and must include the recycled-content rates already set under existing state law.8 Ecology is writing the program rules in chapter 173-950 WAC, with adoption expected in 2028.9

Enforcement

WhoPenalty
Producers and PROs, first violationUp to $1,000 per day
Producers and PROs, later violationsUp to $10,000 per day
Sellers and distributors of non-compliant productsTwice the value of the materials sold, or $500, whichever is greater

Producers get 60 days after written notice to comply, and penalties can be appealed to the Pollution Control Hearings Board.10

What to do now

  1. Confirm your CAA membership. It has been required since July 1, 2026.
  2. Check the de minimis tests using global revenue.
  3. If you distribute other brands' products, note that sellers can be penalized for products from non-compliant producers.
  4. Follow Ecology's rulemaking, which will set the targets your packaging is measured against.

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Sources

  1. RCW 70A.208.040 (producer participation). app.leg.wa.gov
  2. Washington Department of Ecology, “Recycling Reform Act will lower recycling costs,” July 2026. ecology.wa.gov
  3. Laws of 2025, ch. 316 (E2SSB 5284), session law. leg.wa.gov
  4. RCW 70A.208.020 (definitions; producer). app.leg.wa.gov
  5. Washington Department of Ecology, Recycling Reform Act: producer responsibility organization. ecology.wa.gov
  6. Circular Action Alliance, Washington. circularactionalliance.org
  7. RCW 70A.208.030 (PRO appointment and registration). app.leg.wa.gov
  8. RCW 70A.208.150 (performance requirements). app.leg.wa.gov
  9. Washington Department of Ecology, Chapter 173-950 WAC rulemaking. ecology.wa.gov
  10. RCW 70A.208.230 (penalties). app.leg.wa.gov

What changed

  • 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.