FACT SHEET

California EPR Program Overview and Retailer Responsibility

SB 54 (Statutes of 2022) 

Producer Responsibility Organization (PRO): Circular Action Alliance (CAA) will implement the plan set forth by law with guidance from the Packaging Producer Responsibility Advisory Board. SB 54 requires producers of residential and commercial single-use packaging and plastic food service ware to join a PRO and, through the PRO, fund the recycling of those materials and manage other end-of-life considerations. Additionally, the PRO must remit to the state $500 million each year, starting in 2027 and ending in 2037, to be placed in the California Plastic Pollution Mitigation Fund. The PRO also must ensure that by 2032:

  • 100% of single-use packaging and single-use plastic food service ware sold in the state is recyclable or compostable 
  • 65% of single-use plastic packaging and single-use food service ware is recycled and 
  • 25% reduction, compared to 2023, in the sale or distribution of single-use plastic packaging and single-use food service ware. 

Find updates and helpful resources  

California: Covered Materials

Material regulated by SB 54 (called “covered material”) includes single-use packaging and single-use plastic food service ware. CalRecycle maintains a list containing categories of covered materials and their recyclability rates. CAA provides additional details via this presentation.

Covered Material includes both of the following: 

  1. Single-use packaging that is routinely recycled, disposed of, or discarded after its contents have been used or unpackaged, and typically not refilled or otherwise reused by the producer.
    • "Packaging” means any separable and distinct material component used for the containment, protection, handling, delivery, or presentation of goods by the producer for the user or consumer, ranging from raw materials to processed goods. 
  2. Plastic single-use food service ware, including, but not limited to, plastic-coated paper or plastic-coated paperboard, paper or paperboard with plastic intentionally added during the manufacturing process, and multilayer flexible material. For purposes of this subparagraph, “single-use food service ware” includes both of the following:  
    • Trays, plates, bowls, clamshells, lids, cups, utensils, stirrers, hinged or lidded containers, and straws.  
    • Wraps or wrappers and bags used in the packaging of food offered for sale or provided to customers by food service establishments

CalRecycle has published guidance on how to categorize covered material into covered material categories for the purposes of producer reporting. See the flowchart and accompanying instructions (p. 9) from CalRecycle’s Covered Material Category Producer Reporting Guidance.  

California: Who Is a Producer

Who qualifies as a producer is a hierarchy set out in the California law (PRC §§ 42041(w)), as well as draft implementing regulations (please note, these regulations are not yet finalized, though the definition of producer is not likely to change). Please review the definition with your legal counsel.  

Below is a summary of how to determine who is the producer of covered products: 

  1. “Producer” means a person who manufactures a product that uses covered material and who owns or is the licensee of the brand or trademark under which the product is used in a commercial enterprise, sold, offered for sale, or distributed in the state. 

  2. If there is no person in the state who is the producer for purposes of paragraph (1), the producer of the covered material is the owner or, if the owner is not in the state, the exclusive licensee of a brand or trademark under which the product using the covered material is used in a commercial enterprise, sold, offered for sale, or distributed in the state. For purposes of this subdivision, a licensee is a person holding the exclusive right to use a trademark or brand in the state in connection with the manufacture, sale, or distribution of the product packaged in or made from the covered material. 

  3. If there is no person in the state who is the producer for purposes of paragraph (1) or (2), the producer of the covered material is the person who sells, offers for sale, or distributes the product that uses the covered material in or into the state. 

A “product uses covered material” if its packaging is covered material or if the good itself is plastic single-use food service ware and thus constitutes covered material. Empty packaging materials not yet used by a good are not “single-use packaging” or otherwise “covered material” under the Act, such that a person is not a producer merely because they manufacture, sell, offer for sale, or distribute such materials. 

Find sample scenarios here that may help you identify if you are a producer.   

California: Retailer/Wholesaler Responsibility

“Retailer” or “wholesaler” means the entity who sells covered material in the state to purchasers or offers to purchasers the covered material in the state through any means, including, but not limited to, any of the following:

  • Remote offering, including sales outlets or catalogs
  • Electronically through the internet
  • Telephone
  • Mail
  • Direct sales

A person who sells covered material as a third-party seller using an online marketplace is considered the retailer or wholesaler for purposes of such transactions. The owner or operator of the online marketplace shall not be considered the retailer or wholesaler for such sales. 

A retailer or wholesaler is a producer only for covered material for which it meets the definition of producer. If a retailer is deemed a producer, see “Producer Responsibility” below. Please review the definition of “producer” with your legal counsel. 

California: Producer Responsibility

Producers were required to register with the Circular Action Alliance (CAA), the approved PRO, and report 2023 data by November 15, 2025. However, due to the delay in issuing final regulations, reports for 2023 are now due one month after finalization. CAA will not require resubmission if reported by Nov 15, 2025. Required data to be reported includes the weight of covered materials, number of units, type of packaging materials used, and type of sale (e.g., physical retail, remote sale). 

Producers can register by completing CAA’s online registration form. This form needs to be completed once for each subsidiary company, based on EIN (Employer Identification Number). Once registered, producers can access detailed guidance on reporting. Only registered producers who have a signed a Participant Producer Agreement (PPA) with CAA will be able to access the reporting guidance. 

California: Penalties

Any entity, such as a PRO, producer, local jurisdiction, recycling service provider, retailer, or wholesaler, found not in compliance is subject to penalties or other corrective action pursuant to subdivision (a) of section 42081 of the Public Resources Code. If a PRO acting on behalf of its participants causes participants to be in violation, such participants shall not be exempt from penalties on the grounds that their noncompliance was caused by the PRO’s conduct. 

Note: These guides are meant to serve as references with summary information. They are not intended to represent legal advice or contain all aspects of the legislated requirements. Information and links were accurate at the date of publication. Each organization must conduct its due diligence and understand its legal obligations.     

Note: These guides are meant to serve as references with summary information. They are not intended to represent legal advice or contain all aspects of the legislated requirements. Information and links were accurate at the date of publication. Each organization must conduct its due diligence and understand its legal obligations.