CalRecycle, the agency overseeing California’s recycling and waste management programs, reports that packaging accounts for over 50% of what is dumped in California landfills. On August 22, 2025, CalRecycle began a second attempt at formal rulemaking to address this issue by noticing revised regulations to implement California’s extended producer responsibility (EPR) law for packaging.
California’s EPR law for packaging is the Plastic Pollution Prevention and Packaging Producer Responsibility Act—commonly referred to as “SB 54”—and it was signed into law by Governor Gavin Newsom on June 30, 2022. SB 54 is one of a number of California EPR laws that generally seek to hold businesses responsible for the end-of-life management of their products or packaging. California’s other EPR laws apply to a range of products, including textiles, beverage containers, batteries, pharmaceuticals, mattresses, carpets, and paint.
The currently proposed regulations are revised versions of the ones CalRecycle first proposed in 2024, and include several revisions. Read more about the revisions here.
