Product Stewardship Updates | | YOUR GENEROSITY SUPPORTS PSI’S NEXT 25 YEARS OF EPR LEADERSHIP | | |
Our Giving Tuesday campaign has wrapped, launching our year-end Giving Campaign for PSI’s next 25 years. Thank you to everyone who donated. If you didn’t have a chance last week, your gift today will fuel real-world solutions. Twenty-five years ago, the U.S. had just seven EPR laws. Today, there are more than 145—proof of how far the movement has come and how central PSI’s work has been. This year was no exception.
Here’s what your support helped make possible in 2025:
Our policy models and technical expertise informed two new packaging EPR laws and four new battery EPR laws.
We brought together 200+ stakeholders at the 2025 Forum and launched a national Packaging EPR Harmonization Task Force to align state approaches.
We guided Colorado’s advisory board through program plan development and supported producer compliance with tools, templates, webinars, and office hours.
- Educated & Built Capacity
We strengthened sharps and pharmaceutical programs in Oklahoma and Missouri, reached nearly 500,000 people with education, delivered webinars to nearly 2,000 stakeholders, and tracked 150 bills in 27 states.
Your support powers this progress—and positions PSI to lead the next 25 years.
| | PSI IS HIRING: COMMUNICATIONS & MARKETING INTERN | | |
PSI is seeking a [part-time Communications & Marketing Intern to support a wide range of communications, storytelling, and outreach efforts across our projects on a part-time basis from January through June 2026. We’re looking for a creative, detail-oriented communicator with a passion for recycling, waste reduction, and environmental policy.
This is an excellent opportunity to gain hands-on experience in communications and marketing within the rapidly growing field of extended producer responsibility (EPR), and to work with a mission-driven team at the forefront of the U.S. EPR movement.
| | MASSACHUSETTS EPR COMMISSION ISSUES DRAFT FINAL REPORT SPANNING FIVE PRODUCT CATEGORIES | |
Massachusetts is officially active in the EPR landscape! The state’s Extended Producer Responsibility Commission, established by the State Legislature, released a Draft Final Report, expected to be finalized in January, covering paint, mattresses, batteries, electronics, and plastics and packaging. The Commission endorsed EPR for paint, mattresses, batteries, and electronics, recommending the Legislature advance stewardship legislation aligned with existing programs in other states. For plastics and packaging, the Commission endorsed the concept of EPR and recommended that MassDEP establish a subcommittee and be resourced to conduct a needs assessment to evaluate how packaging EPR could meaningfully improve material recovery in Massachusetts.
Throughout the Commission’s work, PSI’s CEO, Scott Cassel, played a significant consulting role, providing product-specific reports, research, and presentations to inform deliberations across multiple categories, drawing on national EPR experience and implementation lessons. The Draft Final Report marks a clear shift: Massachusetts is now actively engaging in multi-product EPR policy development.
| | ILLINOIS PAINT STEWARDSHIP PROGRAM | |
On December 1, Illinois launched a statewide Paint Stewardship Program operated by PaintCare, becoming the 12th U.S. jurisdiction to implement an extended producer responsibility (EPR) system for leftover architectural paint. The program—overseen by the Illinois Environmental Protection Agency and funded through a consumer fee on new paint sales—offers more than 150 drop-off locations for residents and businesses to recycle unused household paint, primers, stains, and varnishes at no cost. Additional sites are expected as the network expands, easing pressure on local household hazardous waste programs and improving recycling access statewide.
Getting a paint program from legislation to full implementation takes a combined effort. These programs are built on a long-standing public–private partnership among ACA, PaintCare, PSI, state agencies, recyclers, and local governments in Illinois—led by the Illinois Product Stewardship Council (ILPSC), whose advocacy was essential in moving this legislation forward. Their leadership played a critical role in making the Illinois program possible.
PSI mediated the 2005 national agreement that brought together more than 300 stakeholders and led to the nation’s first paint EPR law, in Oregon in 2007, laying the groundwork for the model now used across the country. Reflecting on Illinois’ milestone, PSI CEO Scott Cassel said, “Illinois is the latest PaintCare program to come online, building on nearly two decades of collaboration and proven results. As the newest of 12 PaintCare programs, Illinois joins a proven framework that makes paint recycling convenient for residents and reduces costs for local governments.”
The launch represents another step forward in a mature stewardship model that continues to expand nationally through strong collaboration among policymakers, industry leaders, and local government partners. Read the full press release here.. Read the full press release here.
| | NEW YORK LAUNCHES PILOT VAPE RECYCLING PROGRAM TO ADDRESS GROWING WASTE STREAM | | |
The Product Stewardship Institute (PSI) and the Center for Sustainable Materials Management (CSMM) at SUNY ESF have launched a new pilot program to collect and responsibly recycle disposable vapes and e-cigarettes—an increasingly prevalent and challenging waste stream. The initiative aims to test practical, scalable approaches for separating lithium-ion batteries and nicotine-containing components for critical mineral recovery, as both pose environmental and safety risks when disposed of in the trash. The pilot will operate through schools, community organizations, and municipal partners across New York State. By gathering data on collection volumes, consumer behavior, costs, and processing pathways, the program will help inform policymakers and other stakeholders considering long-term strategies for managing vape waste, including potential EPR approaches.
Disposable vapes combine electronics, batteries, and chemical residues, making them difficult and costly for municipalities to manage. This pilot represents a coordinated step toward understanding system needs, reducing fire risks associated with improper battery disposal, and identifying viable statewide solutions. Read more here.
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EPR IN THE GREAT LAKES REGION:
A TWO-PART WEBINAR SERIES
The Council of the Great Lakes Region (CGLR) and the Product Stewardship Institute (PSI) have partnered to help stakeholders across the region—including Illinois, Indiana, Michigan, Minnesota, New York, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Wisconsin, and Ontario—build a strong foundation for effective EPR policies. While designed for Great Lakes audiences, the recordings for both webinars—held recently—are open to all who want to learn about the basics of EPR and how it is implemented, as well as about the region’s progress and challenges.
RECORDING NOW AVAILABLE: Laying the Groundwork — The Basics of EPR
This introductory webinar provided a clear overview of EPR principles, why they matter, and how they’re being applied in the U.S. and Canada. Speakers explained the mechanics of EPR—shifting financial and operational responsibility for waste management from governments to producers—and highlighted the environmental, economic, and equity benefits that drive adoption.
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RECORDING NOW AVAILABLE: Beyond the Basics — Advancing EPR in the Great Lakes Region
Building on recent legislative progress in the U.S. and Canada, panelists examined emerging best practices and critical decision points in program development. Topics included governance models, oversight structures, eco-modulated fee schedules, data and reporting systems, and the evolving roles of municipalities and producer responsibility organizations (PROs). The session explored harmonization opportunities across jurisdictions, drawing lessons from Ontario’s oversight framework and U.S. packaging EPR laws already in motion.
| | (StudioThreeDots / Canva Teams) | |
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U.S. Plastics Pact outlines role of physical and chemical recycling: The Pact released a position statement noting that alternative recycling technologies can play a complementary role for hard-to-recycle packaging but should not replace reduction, reuse, or mechanical recycling. The paper highlights conditions needed for their responsible use—including transparent environmental data, third-party verification, community safeguards, and standardized reporting—to ensure they deliver real circularity benefits.
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Minnesota seeks public input on packaging EPR implementation: Minnesota is collecting feedback on its forthcoming packaging EPR program as legislators work to finalize the scope and structure. The state is considering system design, cost coverage, equity in access, and producer obligations as it builds one of the country’s newest EPR frameworks. Read more
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Bel Group responds positively to consumer expectations on packaging: Packaging Dive reports on Bel Group’s move to paper-wrapped Babybel cheese, reflecting growing consumer pressure and brand-led shifts away from plastic packaging. The company’s participation on PSI’s Producer Perspectives panel at the Forum highlighted how producers are adapting packaging strategies across markets in response to sustainability expectations. Read more
| | The Product Stewardship Institute is a policy expert and consulting nonprofit that pioneered product stewardship in the United States. Since 2000, PSI has helped enact 146 extended producer responsibility (EPR) laws across 21 product categories in 34 states and D.C. — the bedrock on which the circular economy is built. We work with businesses, nonprofits, academia, and governments to ensure that products are responsibly managed from design to end of life. Join us at www.productstewardship.us. | | |
The Product Stewardship Institute, Inc. is an equal opportunity employer and provider. Persons with disabilities who require alternatively formatted materials to ensure effective communication should contact Amanda Nicholson at info@productstewardship.us or 617.236.4855.
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