PLASTICS POLICY NAVIGATOR

Colorado

Components

  • Producer responsibility organization
  • Dues
  • Recycling rate
  • Stewardship programs.

Compliance Dates

  • June 1, 2023: producers or their desinated agents shall establish a nonprofit organization (PRO) to fulfill the requirements of this statute and provide notification to the department.
  • September 1, 2023: the organization shall hire an independent third party approved by the executive director to conduct an assessment of the state’s recycling needs. 
  • July 1, 2023  and on July 1 of every year the commission will re-evaluate the producer exclusion based on gross total revenue and and adjust the threshold.
  • January 30, 2024: The organization shall report the results of the needs assessment to the advisory board and the executive director.
  • July 1, 2025: A producer shall not sell or distribute any products that use covered materials in the state unless the producer is participating in the program.
  • January 1, 2026: A producer shall pay responsibility dues to the PRO, and the PRO shall develop an eco-modulation bonus schedule that is designed to reduce the PRO dues of producers that meet certain benchmarks. 

Compliance Concerns

  • PRO is made up of many non-industry voting members.
  • Requires producers to create a non-profit to facilitate a statewide needs assessment.

Penalty/Fines

  • For a first violation, an initial penalty of five thousand dollars for the first day of each violation and one thousand five hundred dollars per day for each day the violation continues;
  • For a second violation committed within twelve months after a prior violation, an initial penalty of ten thousand dollars for the first day of each violation and three thousand dollars per day for each day the violation continues; and (c) for a third or subsequent violation committed within twelve months after two or more prior violations, an initial penalty of twenty thousand dollars for the first day of each violation and six thousand dollars per day for each day the violation continues.


Producer Responsibility Program for Statewide Recycling Act

HB 22-1355

Date of Enactment: 6/2/2022

View Bill

Products Covered

  • Packaging material, except as specified in covered product exemptions
  • Paper products, except as specified in covered product exemptions

Product Exemptions

  • Packaging materials intended to be used for the long-term storage or protection of a durable product and that are intended to transport, protect, or store the product for at least five years;
  • Paper products that, through their use, could become unsafe or unsanitary to handle;
  • Printed paper used to distribute financial statements, billing statements, medical documents, or other vital documents required to be provided in paper form by applicable consumer protections laws or other state or federal laws;
  • Bound books;
  • Beverage containers subject to a returnable container deposit, if applicable;
  • Packaging material used exclusively in industrial or manufacturing processes;
  • Packaging material used to contain a product that is regulated as a drug, medical device, or dietary supplement by the federal food and drug administration under the “federal food, drug, and cosmetic act”;
  • Packaging material used to contain a product that is regulated as animal biologics, including vaccines, bacterins, antisera, diagnostic kits, and other products of biological origin under the federal “virus-serum-toxin act”; 
  • Packaging material used to contain a product that is regulated under the “federal insecticide, fungicide, and rodenticide act”; 
  • Packaging material used to contain architectural paint covered under a paint stewardship program in accordance with part 4 of this article 17;
  • Packaging material used to contain a product that is required under state law to be sold in packaging material that meets the standards set forth in the “poison prevention packaging act of 1970”;
  • Packaging material used to contain a portable electronic device, that has been repaired and reconditioned to be sold as a refurbished product; 
  • Paper products used for a print publication that primarily includes content derived from primary sources related to news and current events;
  • Packaging material used to contain a product that is regulated as infant formula (z), as a medical food, or as fortified nutritional supplements used for individuals who require supplemental or sole source nutrition to meet nutritional needs due to special dietary needs directly related to cancer, chronic kidney disease, diabetes, malnutrition, or failure to thrive;
  • Any other material that, based on an analysis by the organization of the operational and financial impacts of the proposed changes and after consultation with the advisory board, the commission determines by rule to not be a covered material.

Producer Definition

“Producer” means: 

  • If the product is sold or distributed in the state using packaging materials under the manufacturer’s own brand or is sold or distributed in the state using packaging materials that lack identification of a brand, the person that manufactures the product; 
  • If the product is manufactured by a person other than the brand owner, the person that is the licensee of a brand or trademark under which a packaged item is sold or distributed in the state, whether or not the trademark is registered in the state; or
  • If there is no person described in subsection (30)(a)(i) or (30)(a)(ii) of this section within the united states, the person that  imports the product using covered materials into the united states for use in a commercial enterprise that sells or distributes the item in the state;
  • For the purposes of products that are sold or distributed in the state through an internet transaction:
  • The producer of the packaging material used to directly protect or contain the product; and
  • For the purposes of packaging material used to ship a product to a consumer, the person that packages or ships the product to the consumer;
  • For the purposes of a paper product that is a magazine, newspaper, catalog, telephone directory, or similar publication, the publisher of the paper product; (d) for the purposes of paper products not described in subsection (30)(c) of this section: (i) the person that manufactures the paper product under the manufacturer’s own brand; or (ii) if the paper product is manufactured by a person other than the brand owner, the person that is the owner or licensee of the brand or trademark under which the paper product is used in a commercial enterprise, sold, or distributed in or into the state, whether or not the trademark is registered in the state; or (e) for any other covered material, the person that first distributes the covered material in or into the state.

Producer Exclusions

1) A producer is exempt from the requirements of this act if the producer is: 

  • (a) a person with less than five million dollars in realized gross total revenue, not including on-premises alcohol sales, during the prior calendar year; 
  • (b) a person that has used less than one ton of covered materials for products sold or distributed within or into the state during the prior calendar year; 
  • (c) the state or a local government; 
  • (d) a nonprofit organization; 
  • (e) an agricultural employer with less than five million dollars in realized gross total revenue in the state from consumer sales of agricultural products sold under the brand name of the farmer, egg producer, grower, or individual grower cooperative; 
  • (f) an individual business operating a retail food establishment that is located at a physical business location; or 
  • (g) a builder, a construction company, or construction contractors.

2) The commission shall adjust by rule the dollar limitation set forth in subsection (1)(a) of this section on July 1, 2023, and on July 1 of each year thereafter, based on the percentage change in the united states department of labor’s bureau of labor statistics consumer price index for denver-aurora-lakewood for all items and all urban consumers, or its successor index.

Recycling Definition

“Recycling” means the reprocessing, by means of a manufacturing process, of a used material into a product or a secondary raw material. 

“Recycling” does not include any of the following:

  • Energy recovery or energy generation by means of combustion
  • Page 12-house bill 22-1355 (ii) use as a fuel;
  • Use as alternative daily cover as defined in section 30-20-1402 (1); or
  • Landfill disposal of discarded covered materials.

The information contained herein may or may not be applicable to your specific operation and users must determine for themselves the applicability or suitability of the information contained herein for their intended purpose prior to use. The information contained herein is for reference only, and should not be considered advice or legal advice, and does not take into account the specifics of your organization’s activities. This manual is not intended to describe specific performance standards or minimum standards for compliance. Compliance with state and local regulations is mandatory. These guidelines may help by serving as a reference for some, but not all compliance requirements. PLASTICS does not make any warranty or representation either express or implied, with respect to the accuracy, currency, or completeness of the information contained in this document, nor does PLASTICS assume any liability of any kind resulting from the use or reliance upon any data contained in this document. Compliance with applicable laws and regulations remains the full responsibility of the parties to which the law or regulation applies. This manual is for informational purposes only and is not intended to be legal or compliance advice. We strongly recommend that you seek separate counsel to validate the accuracy, currency, and applicability of, and for guidance as to the appropriate use of, the data in the report with respect to your organization’s own conditions, activities, and operations.