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Oregon is at the forefront of a wave of new state laws that seek to recover the cost of disposing of packaging from the companies that produce it. These laws are often referred to as Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR) laws. The Oregon law assesses fees against companies who sell products into Oregon based on the amount and type of material in the packaging for the products. 

A company may be responsible for fees in Oregon even if it doesn’t sell any product directly into the state if, for example, its distributors sell enough of its branded products there. In many cases, the “producer” for purposes of the Oregon law is the company whose brand appears on the consumer packaging regardless of who sold the product into the state.

Circular Action Alliance (CAA), the outside agency that manages Oregon’s implementation of its EPR Program, recently granted a grace period to producers who did not file their 2024 Oregon packaging data by the original deadline of March 31, 2025. CAA has offered a grace period through April 30, 2025, for late reporting of the 2024 data without penalty.

There are some exemptions to the law based on the amount and type of packaging used by the producer. For example, any company that had gross revenue of less than U.S. $5 million in its most recent fiscal year or shipped less than one metric ton of packaging material into Oregon in the most recent calendar year is exempt from required reporting and fees.

Colorado, California and other states are at varying stages in the process of creating their own Extended Producer Responsibility programs. If you have questions about EPR laws or their applicability to your company, please contact your Kutak Rock attorney or Kutak Rock’s International Trade and Tariffs group.