Key Takeaways:
• Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR) Legislation: Several states have passed EPR laws that shift the responsibility of recycling and waste management from consumers to producers. This includes laws in states like Washington, Maine, Oregon, New Jersey, Colorado, California, and Minnesota, which aim to reduce packaging waste and increase recycling efforts.
• Tackling Textile Waste: California has introduced the first EPR program for textiles, requiring companies to create or join a Producer Responsibility Organization (PRO) to manage textile waste. This initiative aims to address the growing issue of textile waste, which is a significant and fast-growing waste stream in the U.S.
• Regulation of “Forever Chemicals” (PFAS): States like California, New York, and Maine have implemented bans and reporting requirements for PFAS, which are harmful chemicals that do not break down in the environment. These regulations aim to reduce the presence of PFAS in products and mitigate their environmental and health impacts.
Sustainability is becoming increasingly critical in the print and promo world, with clients often requesting concrete metrics measuring a product’s environmental footprint. Consider that 71% of promo suppliers and 65% of extra-large distributors (those with more than $5 million in annual revenue) have been asked to verify their sustainability and social responsibility practices, according to the 2024 Counselor State of the Industry report.
And while the push toward sustainability has been largely driven by consumer expectations and corporate demand in the U.S., legislation – particularly at the state level – is also moving the needle.
Here’s a rundown of current and impending sustainability regulations and how they stand to affect the industry.
Extended Producer Responsibility for Packaging
At its core, extended producer responsibility (EPR) is a policy change that shifts responsibility for the end of life of a product to producers rather than to consumers or municipalities. “It creates a framework that incentivizes producers to think about the end of life in the design of the product so that they’re not creating a problem for someone down the road,” says Andy Keller, CEO of ChicoBag (asi/44811) and a member of ASI’s Promo for the Planet editorial advisory board.
As of December 2024, seven states – Washington, Maine, Oregon, New Jersey, Colorado, California and Minnesota – have passed EPR legislation to reduce packaging waste and spur recycling efforts. In 2021, Washington passed a post-consumer recycled content law, requiring producers of common products sold in plastic packaging to register with the state, pay annual fees and include a minimum amount of recycled plastic in their plastic packaging.
That same year, Maine passed its own EPR law, requiring producers to finance the recycling of packaging materials, in an attempt to reduce municipal waste management costs. The program is set to take full effect in 2026, with reporting of 2025 packaging data due that year.
Oregon’s law, enacted in August 2021 and scheduled to begin in July 2025, requires producers to join a Producer Responsibility Organization (PRO) and contribute to the costs of recycling programs.
Passed in June 2022 and set to start at the outset of 2026, Colorado’s EPR law mandates that companies selling packaging and paper products must fund a statewide recycling system. Meanwhile, New Jersey has adopted a recycled content law that requires manufacturers to meet minimum recycled content standards for products like rigid plastic containers, glass containers, paper and plastic carryout bags, and plastic trash bags. It also prohibited the sale of polystyrene loose-fill packaging.
Elsewhere, California’s Plastic Pollution Prevention and Packaging Producer Responsibility Act (SB 54) was signed into law in June 2022 and requires all packaging in the Golden State to be recyclable or compostable by 2032. It mandates a 25% reduction in plastic packaging and sets a 65% recycling rate for single-use plastic packaging. The program is expected to begin in 2027.
In May 2024, Minnesota approved a law holding manufacturers accountable for products and packaging throughout their entire life cycle – from product design through to reuse, recycling or safe disposal. The program is set to begin in 2029 and includes a requirement that all packaging be reusable, recyclable or compostable by 2032.
Several other states are considering their own takes on packaging EPR – clearly, it’s an issue that’s not going away anytime soon.
Tackling Textile Waste
Of course, EPR isn’t only about packaging.
In September 2024, California became the first state to establish an EPR program for textiles. Companies that produce apparel and other textiles sold in the state have until 2026 to create or join a CalRecycle-approved PRO that will design collection sites, mail-back programs or other recycling solutions to keep textile waste out of landfills. CalRecycle will adopt regulations to implement the program beginning in 2028.
“We worked really hard to consult with and eventually to align all of the stakeholders in the life cycle of textiles so that at the end there was no opposition,” Josh Newman, the Democratic state senator who sponsored the bill, told The Guardian after it passed.
Thanks to trends like fast fashion, apparel is the fastest-growing waste stream in the country, but only about 15% of textiles are actually recycled, according to the EPA. Though California’s textile EPR law is unique in the U.S., it shouldn’t be discounted as niche, experts say.
“Everyone needs to be paying attention,” Keller says, “because typically what happens in California gets replicated across different states.”
Say Goodbye to “Forever Chemicals”
Often referred to as “forever chemicals” because they don’t break down in the environment, per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) have been widely used in a variety of products, from durable water-repellent coating on performance fabrics to food packaging and nonstick pans. They’ve also been used in shampoos, mascara, firefighting foams and carpets.
However, the chemicals can contaminate water sources and build up in fish and wildlife. Research has linked exposure to certain PFAS with various health problems, including kidney and testicular cancers, thyroid disease and developmental delays, according to the EPA.
As knowledge of these adverse effects has become more widespread, so too have bans and limitations on PFAS. So far, 30 states have adopted more than 150 policies to address PFAS, according to Safer States.
Among the more notable, California’s forever chemicals ban went into effect at the onset of 2025. It prohibits PFAS from being added to cosmetics, personal care products, textiles and clothing sold there. New York has a law banning PFAS chemicals in apparel and food packaging. Maine requires manufacturers to report the presence of intentionally added PFAS chemicals to products they seek to sell or distribute in the state; effective 2030, Maine is prohibiting the sale of all products containing intentionally added PFAS, with some exceptions for essential uses.
There’s been some movement at the federal level with regard to PFAS as well. The EPA in April 2024 issued a final rule placing limits on several PFAS in drinking water. The agency also designated two widely used PFAS as hazardous substances under the Superfund law, which it said would improve transparency and accountability to clean up PFAS contamination.
In the print and promo industries, manufacturers have already begun to address forever chemicals.
Counselor Top 40 supplier 3M/Promotional Markets (asi/91240), for example, has said it will stop manufacturing and using PFAS chemicals across its product portfolio by the end of 2025. And, Eagan, MN-based supplier Storm Creek (asi/89879), a bluesign System Partner, noted when it released its 2025 catalog that all of its new fabrics were made without PFAS. In the past, the supplier had used PFAS in its water-repellent fabrics.
“Storm Creek is proud to set the standards for the industry and never settle for the easy route,” says Doug Jackson, founder and president.
Measuring Carbon Emissions
When it comes to sustainability trends, you can’t escape carbon accounting. In March 2024, the Securities and Exchange Commission approved rules requiring large publicly traded companies to disclose their Scope 1 and 2 greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions – direct and indirect emissions from purchased electricity, heating and cooling. (The rule didn’t include Scope 3, often the largest share of a company’s carbon footprint, which includes all other indirect emissions.)
Though implementation of the rules were later paused due to legal challenges, don’t expect the focus on carbon reduction to lessen.
California, for example, has passed several of its own climate disclosure laws, requiring annual public disclosure of Scope 1, 2 and 3 GHG emissions by U.S.-organized entities doing business in California with total annual revenue of more than $1 billion. Emissions and climate risk disclosures must be made beginning in 2026.
Though the number of print and promo firms directly affected by this law is low, it’s likely a bellwether. Indeed, outside of legal requirements, many large end-buyers have been requiring more stringent sustainability data reporting from distributors, and suppliers increasingly have been providing that information. Counselor Top 40 supplier Koozie Group (asi/40480), which became certified CarbonNeutral company-wide on Scope 1 and 2 emissions in 2023, has started certifying individual products in accordance with The CarbonNeutral Protocol.
“Starting with the carbon footprint of the pens we manufacture in-house made sense, as we’d already gathered much of that data for our company-level certification,” says Pierre Montaubin, CEO of Koozie Group and a member of Counselor’s Power 50 list of promo’s most influential people.
Whether it’s plans to reduce GHG emissions or calls to limit plastic and other waste, expect sustainability efforts to play a critical role in print and promo going forward. These issues aren’t going away, so it’s a good idea to deal with them proactively – rather than finding your company in a reactive position down the road.
