PLASTICS POLICY NAVIGATOR

Components

Compliance Dates

• A producer responsibility organization shall first implement an approved producer responsibility program plan no later than July 1, 2025. requires a producer to be a member of a producer responsibility organization apply to producers that sell, offer for sale or distribute in or into this state covered products on or after July 1, 2025.
• The Department of Environmental Quality shall complete the first statewide needs assessment required no later than July 1, 2023.
• The department shall first submit the report required Act no later than September 15, 2024.
• No later than December 31 of each year in which an approved producer responsibility program plan is required to be operated in this state, a producer responsibility organization must have members with a combined market share, calculated in accordance with rules established in this section, that is at least 10 percent of the total combined market share of all producers of covered products.
• No later than July 1 of each year, a producer responsibility organization must submit to the Department of Environmental Quality for approval by the department an annual report on the development, implementation and operation of the producer responsibility program. 

Compliance Concerns

• Covers all packaging material and serviceware.
• Producers are required to provide compliance infromation to the PRO.
• Educational program is developed by the PRO.
• Advisory council with 19 members, mainly government officials, 4 covered producer representatives.
• Few producer exemptions.
• Mandated recycling rate.

Penalty/Fines

Any producer that violates the provisions of ORS 459A.825 (1) incurs a civil penalty not to exceed $1,000 per day for each day of the violation.

Fee Structure

• The CAA base fee-setting methodology ensures fairness for producers by differentiating material fees based on each material’s supply, cost and revenue profiles. 

• Materials with the highest supply quantities and management costs pay the highest share of costs 

• Materials generating the most commodity revenues benefit from the largest reduction in costs 

• Materials that are recycled at high rates do not pay a higher share of costs relative to lower performing 

Eco-Modulation

Eco-Modulation Incentive Program to begin in 2026. Fee-setting will account for measurable environmental objectives and statemandated ecomodulation policies.the Oregon program shall encourage producers to make continual reductions.

Plastic Pollution and Recycling Modernization Act

SB 582

Date of Enactment: 8/20/2021

Products Covered

“Covered product” means:

• Packaging

• Printing and writing paper

• Food service ware

Product Exemptions

“Covered product” does not include:

• A beverage container, as defined in ORS 459A.700
• Bound books
• Napkins, paper towels or other paper intended to be used for cleaning or the absorption of liquids.
• Rigid pallets used as the structural foundation for transporting goods lifted by a forklift, pallet jack or similar device.
• Specialty packaging items that are used exclusively in industrial or manufacturing processes.
• Liquified petroleum gas containers that are designed to be refilled.
• A material that the producer demonstrates is exempt under section 4 of this 2021 Act.
• Pallet wrap or similar packaging used to secure a palletized load if added by a person that is not the producer of the palletized covered products.
• Packaging related to containers for architectural paint.
• Any item that is not ultimately discarded inside this state, whether for purposes of recovery or disposal.
• Items sold on a farm or used on a farm.
• Items used by a nursery.
• Packaging and paper products sold or supplied in connection with:
• Prescription drugs as defined in ORS 689.005; 
• Nonprescription drugs as defined in ORS 689.005; 
• Drugs marketed under a brand name as defined in ORS 689.515; or
• Drugs marketed under a generic name as defined in ORS 689.515.
• Packaging and paper products sold or supplied in connection with drugs that are used for animal medicines, including but not limited to parasiticide drugs for animals. 

• Packaging and paper products sold or supplied in connection with:
• Infant formula as defined in 21 U.S.C. 321(z);
• Medical food as defined in 21 U.S.C. 360ee(b)(3); or 
• Fortified oral nutritional supplements.
• Wine and spirit containers for which a refund value is established under Oregon law.

• Packaging for products:
• That are required under 40 C.F.R. 156.140, or other federal regulation pertaining to toxic or hazardous materials, to state on the label or container that the packaging should not be recycled or should be disposed of in a manner other than recycling; or
• Identified by the commission by rule as product that is required by law to state on the label or container that the packaging should not be recycled or should be disposed of in a manner other than recycling.
• Any other material, as determined by the commission by rule, after consultation with the Oregon Recycling System Advisory Council.

Producer Definition

The producer of a covered product shall be determined as follows:

• For items sold in packaging at a physical retail location in this state
• If the item is sold in packaging under the manufacturer’s own brand or is sold in packaging that lacks identification of a brand, the producer of the packaging is the person that manufactures the packaged item;
• If the item is manufactured by a person other than the brand owner, the producer of the packaging is the person that is the licensee of a brand or trademark under which a packaged item is used in a commercial enterprise, sold, offered for sale or distributed in or into this state, whether or not the trademark is registered in this state; or
• If there is no person described in subparagraphs (A) and (B) of this paragraph within the United States, the producer of the packaging is the person that imports the packaged item into the United States for use in a commercial enterprise that sells, offers for sale or distributes the item in this state.
• For items sold or distributed in packaging in or into this state via remote sale or distribution: 
• The producer of packaging used to directly protect or contain the item is the same as the producer for purposes of paragraph (a) of this subsection.
• The producer of packaging used to ship the item to a consumer is the person that packages and ships the item to the consumer. (c) For all other packaging that is a covered product, the producer of the packaging is the person that first distributes the packaged item in or into this state.
• The producer of food serviceware is the person that first sells the food serviceware in or into this state.

Producer Exclusions

• A small producer is exempt from the requirement to be a member of a producer responsibility organization under section 4 of this 2021 Act.
• The Environmental Quality Commission may adopt rules to exempt from the requirements of section 4 of this 2021 Act producers that do not exceed a minimum market share of covered products sold in or into this state.

Recycling Definition

• “Recyclable material” means any material identified for recycling collection under section 22 of this 2021 Act or any other material or group of materials that can be collected and sold for recycling at a net cost equal to or less than the cost of collection and disposal of the same material.The Environmental Quality Commission, in consultation with producer responsibility organizations and the Oregon Recycling System Advisory Council, shall by rule identify materials that are suitable for recycling collection in this state and the methods for collection of those materials. Rules adopted under this subsection must distinguish between:
• Materials collected to provide the opportunity to recycle; and
• Covered products of which a producer responsibility organization must provide for the collection through recycling depot or mobile collection events as provided in ORS 459A.896.
• In determining whether a material should be included in a commingled recycling program for the uniform statewide collection list, collected separately, collected on-route or collected at a recycling depot, or whether a covered product should be collected by a producer responsibility organization the commission shall consider: The stability, maturity, accessibility and viability of responsible end markets; Environmental health and safety considerations; The anticipated yield loss for the material during the recycling process; The material’s compatibility with existing recycling infrastructure; The amount of the material available; The practicalities of sorting and storing the material; Contamination; The ability for waste generators to easily identify and properly prepare the material; Economic factors; and Environmental factors from a life cycle perspective.