Producers Required To Appoint A PRO Under Washington's Extended Producer Responsibility Law By January 1

Producers are required to appoint a producer responsibility organization under Washington State's Recycling Reform Act by January 1, 2026. The Act is Washington's extended producer responsibility (EPR) law. In this post, we further discuss this and other near term action items under the Act for producers.

At a high level, EPR laws require producers to take financial and operational responsibility for the end-of-life management of packaging and/or products. Producers that are responsible for covered materials generally must register with a producer responsibility organization (PRO), report data on the amount and type of covered material placed on the market and pay fees to the PRO to fund collection, recycling and waste reduction efforts.

The Washington Recycling Reform Act (SB 5284) was passed by the state legislature in 2025. The Act creates an EPR program for residential packaging and paper products introduced into Washington.

The Washington Department of Ecology will designate a PRO to act on behalf of producers. For the first plan implementation period, the Department only will allow registration of one PRO (plus individual producers registered as PROs). The PRO will work with local governments and solid waste service providers to develop a program plan and roll out the program by 2030. If more than one PRO registers, the Department of Ecology will select the PRO that it believes can most effectively implement the program during the first approved plan period.

The Act requires each producer to appoint one or more PROs by January 1. Circular Action Alliance – which has been designated as the PRO in California, Colorado, Maryland, Minnesota and Oregon – has requested producers to appoint it as the PRO in Washington by December 15 (as noted on CAA's website here).

For CAA to be designated as a PRO by the Washington Department of Ecology, producers must appoint CAA to act for them in that capacity. By March 1, 2026, CAA must register with the Department on behalf of the producers that appointed it. After July 1, 2026, a producer must be a member of a PRO registered in Washington. If a producer registers with a PRO that is not selected by the Department of Ecology, it will need to re-register with the selected PRO or register as a PRO and implement an individual plan.

Determining Whether Your Company is a Producer under the Washington Act

Prior to appointing or registering with a PRO, a company needs to first determine whether it has obligations under Washington's EPR law. This requires the company to determine whether it has in-scope materials and, if so, whether it is considered the producer of those materials. Each state's EPR law has its own unique definitions for making these determinations. Therefore, the conclusion reached under another state's EPR law may not be the same as the conclusion under the Washington Act.

Under the Washington Act, packaging and paper products introduced into Washington are "covered materials."

• "Packaging" is defined as a material, substance or object that is used to protect, contain, transport, serve or facilitate delivery of a product and is sold or supplied with the product to the consumer for personal, noncommercial use. Like in other states, Washington has exemptions for some packaging. Under the Act, these include for example packaging for infant formula, medical food or drugs.
• A "paper product" is paper sold or supplied to a consumer for personal, noncommercial use, including flyers, brochures, booklets, catalogs, magazines, printed paper and all other paper materials, except for specified exemptions for bound books, conservation-and archival-grade paper, newspapers, small-circulation news magazines, copy paper, paper for use in building construction and paper that is unsafe or unsanitary to handle.

Producers have responsibility for covered materials introduced into Washington. There are separate tests for determining the producer of packaging and paper products. And, especially for items sold in or with packaging, how the item was introduced into Washington will determine who is the responsible producer for the packaging (e.g., sold at a physical retail location in Washington or distributed in packaging into Washington via e-commerce). Producers are defined in more detail in the Act.

The content of this article is intended to provide a general guide to the subject matter. Specialist advice should be sought about your specific circumstances.