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California opens a route to exclude food packaging that federal rules require

CalRecycle, California's recycling agency, issued guidance in August explaining how food and agricultural packaging can be taken out of SB 54, the state's packaging EPR law, where federal safety rules leave no alternative. One approved notice covers every brand using that packaging.

Producer DeskOctober 10, 2026California

What changed

On August 27, 2026, CalRecycle published guidance on a narrow but valuable exclusion in its SB 54 regulations. Packaging for food and agricultural commodities can be excluded from the definition of covered material, the packaging the law applies to, where federal food-safety or agricultural requirements conflict with the law and no reasonable alternative avoids the conflict. The request is a Categorically Excluded Materials Notice, filed through CalRecycle's PEPRS portal.1

The notice has to identify each packaging component and its function, the products it is used for, the conflicting federal requirement, and why no alternative exists. From the guidance:

  • One notice can cover several packaging types and a class of products.
  • CalRecycle checks completeness within 90 days, and can ask for more information after that.
  • Once a notice is deemed complete, the exclusion applies to the listed packaging without each brand filing its own.
  • Packaging later found not to qualify becomes covered material 180 days after CalRecycle gives notice.

What it means for a mid-size brand

California is the expensive state for plastic. CAA's preliminary 2027 schedule adds a 26¢-per-pound mitigation fund charge on top of program fees, so every pound of film, liner or seal that leaves the covered-material definition is worth more here than anywhere else.2 Barrier films for meat and dairy, oxygen absorbers, tamper-evident seals and modified-atmosphere packaging are the obvious candidates, where a federal requirement drives the format.

Because one approved notice covers everyone, the practical question is not whether to file but whether a notice already covers your packaging, or whether your co-packer, converter or trade association is preparing one. Ask them before you report. If nobody is, the guidance includes a sample form.

We've updated the California guide to reflect this.

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Sources

  1. CalRecycle, Guidance for Categorically Excluded Materials Notices: Food and Agricultural Packaging (Aug. 27, 2026). calrecycle.ca.gov
  2. Circular Action Alliance, California 2027 fee schedule, preliminary (Oct. 1, 2026). circularactionalliance.org

General information, not legal advice. This note summarizes a public document as we read it on the date above. Check the source before you act on it.