Enactment date: January 2026

New York joins California as the latest state to establish an extended producer responsibility program for carpet. It makes producers responsible for the cost to manage end-of-life carpet. Producers must participate in an industry recycling program or establish their own recycling program approved by the state’s Department of Environmental Conservation. Producers have until Dec. 31, 2025, to submit plans to the state.

Bills A.9279-A/S.5027-C set mandatory carpet recycling metrics, call for recycled content in new carpet and require free, convenient locations for residents to drop off old carpet. The law also bans intentionally-added PFAS in new carpet. 

The law calls for a 30% recycling rate within five years after DEC approves each stewardship program, with 10% of that considered “closed-loop recycling,” according to the bill. The recycling rate must be 50% within 10 years and 75% within 15 years, ultimately reaching a 40% closed loop recycling rate.  

Chemical recycling is not considered a valid recycling method in this bill. Gov. Kathy Hochul proposed an amendment that would have removed that provision, according to New York Focus. That amendment did not pass. Bill proponents like the National Stewardship Action Council and the Product Stewardship Institute say the EPR program will help raise the state’s carpet recycling rate, which currently is about 1%.

Further reading

Enactment date: July 1, 2023. 

The Digital Fair Repair Act requires original equipment manufacturers to make repair information and tools for certain electronic devices, such as cell phones and laptops, available to both consumers and independent repair providers. 

Many companies do not make repair manuals and specialized repair tools available to the public, or they only make them available to their authorized repair partners. Bill proponents consider such tactics to be anticompetitive behavior and say “right to repair” laws allow consumers more control over devices. 

New York is the first state to require such information from OEMs, said Gov. Kathy Hochul when she signed the bill into law Dec. 29. “This legislation will empower consumers with better options to repair their devices, thereby maximizing the lifespan of their devices, saving money, and reducing electronic waste," she said. The law applies to covered devices manufactured or sold or used for the first time on or after July 1, 2023.

The bills, S4104A/A7006B, faced strong opposition and lobbying from manufacturers like John Deere, as well as TechNet, a trade association representing companies like Apple and Samsung, according to the Times-Union. 

The bills went through numerous revisions, ultimately exempting farm, motor vehicle, construction and medical equipment, as well as certain home appliances and safety communications equipment. The Repair Association, which advocated for the bill in the state, applauded the ultimate passage but expressed disappointment that the final bill had so many exemptions.

Further reading

Enactment date: 90 days after bill signing.

The bill, part of the state’s major package meant to overhaul Michigan’s solid waste management system, aims to shift state resources away from disposal and toward recycling, diversion and circular economy strategies.

The bill names reuse as the “principal objective” of Michigan’s solid waste management plan. It also sets an eventual 45% recycling rate target. It does not specify a deadline for that goal, but does call for reaching an interim 30% rate goal by 2029. The current state recycling rate is about 19%. 

Further reading

Enactment date: 90 days after bill signing.

HB 4459, signed into law by Gov. Gretchen Whitmer on Dec. 22, calls for the Michigan Department of Environment, Great Lakes and Energy to provide grants or loans, or use funding from the state Solid Waste Management Fund, to improve recycling and reuse efforts or access to recycling. Money can also be spent to hire personnel to address recycled materials market development. 

The bill also calls for EGLE to create a recycling markets program and a recycling innovation program. This program would offer grants or loans for acquiring equipment or technology for R&D, recycling market development ideas, education campaigns or other projects. It encourages collaboration between the public and private sectors.

Supporters such as the Michigan Chamber of Commerce and the Michigan Recycling Coalition say the bill will help boost recycling rates while also fostering new and stronger business opportunities.

Further reading

Enactment date: Sept. 30, 2022.

The law prohibits processors from paying cash to certified recycling centers, curbside programs, and other bottle bill collection programs to avoid fraud. It also calls for CalRecycle to study and develop a proposal for reducing contamination in recycled glass, which the agency says is a major barrier to improving the quality of all recyclables. 

The bill did not face notable opposition. 

Further reading

Enactment date: Jan. 1, 2024

The law adds certain wine and distilled spirits bottles to the state’s container redemption program and establishes a 10-cent redemption value on most of the bottles. It also creates a 25-cent refund on “difficult to recycle” wine packaging, including boxes, bladders, pouches and similar plastic containers.

Other provisions in the bill provide millions of dollars in market development initiatives, grants for recycled glass and funding for local programs aimed at collecting more containers.

CalRecycle will create three new grant programs: one for the use of glass cullet in new bottles, one for pilots for glass collection bins at restaurants and other retail locations, and one to encourage rail transportation to move empty glass containers to processing facilities. 

CalRecycle will also fund curbside and neighborhood drop-off programs, municipal and county recycling and litter cleanup activities, statewide recycling education and other community recycling initiatives.

Large haulers like Recology, Republic Services and WM supported the bill, as did environmental groups like Californians Against Waste. Glass processor Strategic Materials and big names in bottling like Anheuser-Busch and Ball Corp. also supported the bill.

Further reading

Enactment date: Jan. 1,  2026

This new law updates the State Agency Buy Recycled Campaign to stipulate agencies must purchase recycled products whenever they are available at no more than a 10% higher total cost. Formerly, agencies could purchase the recycled versions when they were available at the same or a lower total cost than alternative options. 

The bill also lays out eligible products’ minimum recycled content and recyclability requirements. Starting in 2026, CalRecycle must update the product list and recycling requirements every three years as long as it considers market conditions, recycling rates and recycling or processing infrastructure capacity.

Supporters included several environmental groups and municipalities who said it would help increase demand for recycled products. Opponents, like the American Chemistry Council and some state manufacturers, said the bill would make it difficult to find eligible products due to nationwide supply chain constraints and increased demand for recycled content products. 

Further reading

Enactment date: Jan. 1, 2026

California’s SB 1215 adds battery-embedded products to the state’s e-waste program, meaning consumers will pay a disposal fee when they purchase such products starting in 2026. “Battery-embedded” means a product with a battery not designed to be easily removed. Manufacturers of covered electronic devices sold in the state will need to submit a report to CalRecycle and educate consumers on where and how to return, recycle, or dispose of the covered electronic device.

The bill did not receive formal opposition. It exempts some products like prescribed medical devices.

Further reading

Enactment date: April 1, 2025

The law establishes an extended producer responsibility program meant to make battery drop-offs easier and reduce fires in collection vehicles and at waste and recycling facilities. Manufacturers must create a stewardship organization to handle collection, transportation and recycling and keep track of how many batteries are recycled.

California already has a takeback program for some types of rechargeable batteries, but consumers dropped off numerous other types of batteries because they were not sure which ones the program covered, bill proponents said.

Supporters included the California Product Stewardship Council, a sponsor of the bill, along with Rethink Waste, Californians Against Waste, Republic Services and numerous solid waste management districts. 

Further reading

Enactment date: Jan. 1, 2025

AB 1985 delays enforcement penalties for jurisdictions that fail to meet organic waste procurement targets set out in SB 1383. Bill sponsors say the legislation will give local governments more time to ramp up infrastructure needed to meet the goals. It also allows renewable gas procured from a publicly owned treatment works to count toward a jurisdiction’s procurement target until 2025. Other provisions are meant to help rural counties create an adjusted organics collection target schedule starting in 2027.  

Further reading

Enactment date: Jan. 1, 2023

With H 5060, Massachusetts allows some anaerobic digesters and landfill gas facilities that produce biogas to qualify for the state’s peak energy incentive program starting in 2023. That program provides incentives for “clean energy technologies,” such as wind or solar, that can supply electricity or reduce demand during peak periods.

Only certain existing AD and landfill gas facilities that were operational prior to Nov. 7, 2018, can participate in program. Groups such as the National Waste & Recycling Association and Vanguard Renewables have said the opportunity still helps benefit operations in the state.

The major climate bill, which aims to reduce Massachusetts’ dependence on fossil fuels, also includes provisions removing new industrial-scale biomass plants from the state’s definition of renewable energy.

Massachusetts’ goal is to reduce carbon emissions from 1990 levels at least 33% by 2025 and at least 50% by 2030. 

Further reading

Enactment date: One year after the Department of Environmental Management issues regulations for its enforcement or Jan. 1, 2024, whichever comes first. 

The law bans single-use plastic bags at grocery stores, drugstores and other retail businesses and imposes fines. Many Rhode Island municipalities already have their own bag bans; the new law is meant to make the regulations consistent throughout the state. Supporters also say the law will help curb plastic pollution in waterways and ease contamination in recycling loads.

Stores will still be able to offer recyclable paper bags. Reusable bags will need to have “stitched handles” and be designed for 125 uses or more. The law exempts some types of single-use plastic bags, including plastic newspaper bags, bags for unwrapped bakery items or prepared foods and dry cleaning bags. 

Conservation Law Foundation Rhode Island is among the bill’s supporters.

Further reading

Enactment date: Business exemption went into effect July 1, 2022. Reimbursement goes into effect Jan.1, 2023. 

Iowa lawmakers voted to increase the reimbursement paid to bottle redemption centers from one cent per container to three cents. Beverage distributors pay the fee, but they get to keep the full five cents for containers that aren’t redeemed, the Iowa Capitol Dispatch reported. Retailers can stop taking the containers if they are licensed to prepare ready-to-eat food or are located within 10-15 miles of a redemption center, depending on a county’s population

The bill passed after years of debate over updates to the state’s aging bottle bill. State Sen. Jason Schultz, the bill sponsor, said tripling the handling fee will help redemption centers hire more employees and ease the backlog of cans piling up at several locations. The Container Recycling Institute spoke against the opt-out provision of the bill, saying it will make it harder for people to find redemption centers and that the remaining centers would be overloaded with containers.

 Further reading

Enactment date: Jan. 1, 2023

South Carolina’s H4775 will end weight-based collection goals for its electronics takeback program in favor of recycling convenience requirements aimed at making it easier for residents to return old TVs and computers. Some experts say this model could become more common in states with electronics EPR because devices are continuing to get lighter. The weight of electronics the state collects has declined since 2016.

The new law would require between one and three collection sites, depending on population, for each county, or four community collection events per year. Producers will still keep track of the weight of covered electronics collected, and manufacturers in the state must still cover the cost for packaging and transporting devices.

The Consumer Technology Association and the Product Stewardship Institute were among the bill’s supporters.

Further reading

Enactment date: July 1, 2025

Colorado’s new law creates an EPR program for most types of packaging that will be operated and funded by producers who join a nonprofit producer responsibility organization. Producers will pay dues each year based on the amount and type of applicable paper or packaging they use. Fees will go toward funding new or improved recycling services across the state. The bill exempts businesses with less than $5 million in gross annual revenue.

The Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment will oversee the program with input from an advisory board of recycling stakeholders. 

The PRO will hire an independent third party to assess Colorado’s recycling services by April 2024 and to identify which recycling needs aren’t being met. The assessment will look at potentially expanding recycling programs to include places like businesses, government buildings and other locations by 2028. Guidance would also include proposed recycling rates the state would need to meet by January 2030 and January 2035.

Colorado is the third state to adopt EPR for packaging. Proponents included the Colorado Municipal League and Colorado Communities for Climate Action, as well as several environmental groups. Opponents included the American Forest & Paper Association. Some waste haulers said they support EPR but felt the bill was overly complicated.

Further reading

Enactment date: Varies

Considered one of the most comprehensive state policies for organics management in the U.S., Washington’s HB 1799 sets a goal to reduce organic waste disposal 75% by 2030. It also aims to increase the volume of edible food recovery 20% by 2025. Both goals are compared with a 2015 baseline.

Businesses with at least eight cubic yards of weekly organic waste will be required to have on-site management or collection services by 2024, and generators of smaller amounts will face the same requirementin 2025 and 2026. Local governments will need to start offering source-separated organics collection services in 2027.

The bill also creates compostable product label standards — the first in the country — and updates liability standards for food donation. Other provisions require local governments to adopt new compost procurement requirements, support farm use of compost and allow for the siting of organics processing facilities.

The Washington Refuse & Recycling Association, which represents haulers and composters such as WM, Republic Services and Waste Connections, supported the bill.

Further reading

Enactment date: July 1, 2025

Oregon’s bottle bill update adds canned wine, but not wine in glass bottles. 

The state’s bottle bill already covers aluminum beer cans, so the bill is meant to make it easier for residents to redeem the growing number of canned wine containers. Many residents assume the canned wine containers already carry a deposit, bill supporters say.  

The Oregon wine industry took a neutral position on the bill, except to advocate for moving implementation from 2024 to 2025. The Association of Oregon Recyclers supported the bill.

 Further reading

Enactment date: Jan. 1, 2023 

Oregon’s mattress EPR bill, SB 1576, is meant to reduce illegal dumping and offer “free, convenient and accessible” collection sites in every county. Mattress producers must join a stewardship organization, pay an annual fee and submit a mattress management plan for the Oregon Department of Environmental Quality’s approval no later than Oct. 1, 2023. The stewardship organization has seven months after initial approval to implement the plan. 

Mattress producers also need to decide on collection targets, recycling goals and public awareness plans. Consumers who buy a new mattress in the state will have to pay a flat fee for the program, which DEQ will set. Several state recycling organizations, as well as mattress industry stakeholders such as the International Sleep Products Association, supported the bill. 

Further reading

Enactment date: Jan. 6, 2024

New Jersey’s post-consumer recycled content law establishes minimum recycled content requirements starting in 2024 for certain plastic, glass and paper packaging. It also bans polystyrene packing peanuts in 2024. 

The bill establishes these minimum post-consumer recycled content standards:

• 10% for rigid plastic containers, rising incrementally to 50% by 2036
• 15% for plastic beverage containers, rising incrementally to 50% by 2045
• 35% for recycled content in glass bottles 
• 20% for plastic carryout bags, rising incrementally to 40% by 2027.
• Between 20% and 40% for paper carryout bags, depending on size 
• A range of standards from 10% to 40% for plastic trash bags based on thickness 

Both supporters and critics of the bill see its passage as a significant sign that New Jersey and the broader region will need to prioritize recycling collection in the coming years. Those in opposition, including AMERIPEN, the Consumer Brands Association, PLASTICS, the Glass Packaging Institute and the New Jersey State Chamber of Commerce, said the bill did not thoroughly assess current markets to make sure the post-consumer content standards will be feasible. Supporters like Environment New Jersey and the Institute of Scrap Recycling Industries said the bill had achievable and clear metrics.

 Further reading