When this organization was founded by Scott Cassel in 2000, producer responsibility was in place in Europe and Canada, but had barely made a mark in the United States. Now, U.S. EPR is snowballing. As the 2023 legislative sessions begin, we would like to reflect on the accomplishments of those across the country who have, together with PSI, moved EPR forward in 2022 and increased the momentum for additional producer responsibility legislation in 2023 and beyond.
In 2022, 65 EPR bills were active across 20 states and Washington, D.C. These bills covered 14 product areas and included 58 bills to establish new programs as well as seven bills to amend existing programs. These bills included EPR programs for emerging product areas such as smoke detectors, solar panels, and wind turbine blades.
Most significantly, a total of seven new laws establishing programs were enacted in 2022, including packaging EPR in California (SB 54) and Colorado (HB 22-1355), gas cylinders EPR in Connecticut (HB 5142), batteries EPR in California (AB 2440), pharmaceuticals EPR in Illinois (HB 1780), carpet EPR in New York (A 9279), and mattress EPR in Oregon (SB 1576).
These laws bring the U.S. national total to 131 EPR laws across 16 different products in 33 states and Washington, D.C. In the coming year, PSI expects EPR legislation to be introduced in over a dozen states for several different product areas, including batteries, electronics, household hazardous waste, mattresses, packaging, paint, pharmaceuticals, and tires. We look forward to working with our community on these bills!