Components

Compliance Dates

• Annual registration: By January 1, 2025, producers must appoint a producer responsibility organization. The producer responsibility organization must register with the commissioner by July 1, 2026, and each January 1 thereafter.
• Registration fee: Beginning January 1, 2029, as part of its annual registration with the commissioner, a producer responsibility organization must submit to the commissioner a registration fee, as determined by the commissioner.
• Membership: By January 1, 2025, the commissioner must establish and
• appoint the initial membership of the advisory board. The membership of the board must consist of the following:
• Stewardship Plan: The PRO must submit a stewardship plan to the commissioner by October 1, 2028, and every five years thereafter.
• Annual Report: By April 1, 2029, and annually thereafter, a producer responsibility organization must submit a written report to the commissioner.

Compliance Concerns

• Potential for multiple PROs

Penalty/Fines

A producer responsibility organization or producer that violates a provision of or fails to perform a duty imposed by this act, a rule adopted thereunder, or requirements of a stewardship plan approved by the commissioner, is liable for a civil penalty not to exceed $25,000 per day of violation. For a second violation occurring within five years after the approval of a stewardship plan, a producer responsibility organization or producer is liable for a civil penalty not to exceed $50,000 per day of violation. For a third or subsequent violation occurring within five years after the approval of a stewardship plan, a producer responsibility organization or producer is liable for a civil penalty not to exceed $100,000 per day of violation.

Packaging Waste and Cost Reduction Act

HB 3911

Date of Enactment: 5/16/2024

Products Covered

“Covered materials” means packaging and paper products introduced. Covered material does not include exempt materials.

“Covered materials type” means a singular and specific type of covered material, such as paper, plastic, metal, or glass, that: (1) can be categorized based on distinguishing chemical or physical properties, including properties that allow a covered materials type to be aggregated into a discrete commodity category for purposes of reuse, recycling, or composting; and (2) is based on similar uses in the form of a product or package.

Product Exemptions

“Exempt materials” means materials, or any portion of materials, that:

Are packaging for infant formula;

• Are packaging for medical food;
• Are packaging for a fortified oral nutritional supplement used by persons who require supplemental or sole source nutrition to meet nutritional needs due to special dietary needs;
• Are packaging for a product regulated as a drug or medical device by the United States Food and Drug Administration, including associated components and consumable medical equipment;
• Are packaging for a medical equipment or product used in medical settings that is regulated by the United States Food and Drug Administration, including associated components and consumable medical equipment;
• Are drugs, biological products, parasiticides, medical devices, or in vitro diagnostics that are used to treat, or that are administered to, animals and are regulated by the United States Food and Drug Administration; 
• Are packaging for products regulated by the United States Environmental Protection Agency under the Federal Insecticide, Fungicide, and Rodenticide Act; 
• Are packaging used to contain liquefied petroleum gas and are designed to be refilled; 
• Are paper products used for a newspaper’s print publications, including supplements or enclosures, that include content derived from primary sources related to news and current events; 
• Are paper products used for a magazine’s print publication that has a circulation of less than 95,000 and that primarily includes content derived from primary sources related to news and current events; 
• Are packaging used to contain hazardous or flammable products regulated by the 2012 federal Occupational Safety and Health Administration Hazard Communication Standard;
• Are packaging that is being collected and properly managed through a paint stewardship plan approved under section 115A.1415;
• Are exempt materials, as determined by the commissioner;
• Are covered materials that:
• A producer distributes to another producer; 
• Are subsequently used to contain a product, and the product is distributed to a commercial or business entity for the production of another product; and

• Are not introduced to a person other than the commercial or business entity that first received the product used for the production of another product.0 days of receiving a request from the department to provide such information.

Producer Definition

“Producer” means the following person responsible for compliance with requirements under this act for a covered material introduced:

For items sold in or with packaging at a physical retail location in this state:

If the item is sold in or with packaging under the brand of the item manufacturer or is sold in packaging that lacks identification of a brand, the producer is the person that manufactures the item; 

If there is no person to which item (i) applies, the producer is the person that is licensed to manufacture and sell or offer for sale to consumers in this state an item with packaging under the brand or trademark of another manufacturer or person;

If there is no person to which item (i) or (ii) applies, the producer is the brand owner of the item; 

If there is no person described in item (i), (ii), or (iii) within the United States, the producer is the person who is the importer of record for the item into the United States for use in a commercial enterprise that sells, offers for sale, or distributes the item in this state; or 

If there is no person described in items (i) to (iv), the producer is the person that first distributes the item in or into this state; 

For items sold or distributed in packaging in or into this state via e-commerce, remote sale, or distribution:

 for packaging used to directly protect or contain the item, the producer of the packaging is the same as the producer identified under clause (1); and

For packaging used to ship the item to a consumer, the producer of the packaging is the person that packages the item to be shipped to the consumer; 

For packaging that is a covered material and is not included in clauses (1) and (2), the producer of the packaging is the person that first distributes the item in or into this state.

Producer Exclusions

“Producer” does not include: 

• A a state, a federal or state agency, a political subdivision, or other governmental unit;
• A registered 501(c)(3) charitable organization or 501(c)(4) social welfare organization;
• A de minimis producer.

Recycling Definition

“Recycling” means the process of collecting and preparing recyclable materials and reusing the materials in their original form or using them in manufacturing processes that do not cause the destruction of recyclable materials in a manner that precludes further use. Recycling does not include reuse or composting, as defined in this act.