Lessons from Canada: How Collaboration and Investment Are Shaping the Future of Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR) in the U.S.
Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR) legislation is expanding across the United States, with packaging laws now in place in California, Colorado, Maine, Oregon, and Minnesota. Vermont has also joined the effort with an EPR law for household hazardous waste (HHW). Looking ahead, producer EPR reporting requirements are set to begin in Oregon (March 2025) and in California and Colorado (both in August 2025).
EPR laws mandate that Brand Owners take responsibility for the entire lifecycle of their products, including packaging. Compliance requirements, which vary by state, include managing end-of-life processes such as collection, recycling, and disposal, requiring that the value chain prepare accordingly.
U.S. companies can learn much from our neighbor to the north, Canada, when managing a successful EPR and recycling program. Each Canadian province has set EPR regulations for packaging and paper, the first being British Columbia in 2014. In Canada, Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR) collection has been notably successful, especially in provinces like British Columbia. British Columbia's EPR program has led to a 56% recovery rate for rigid plastic materials, reducing the amount of rigid plastic waste-to-landfill and leading to waste management cost savings for municipalities.
During the fall NLCRC meeting held in Montreal this past October, a “field trip” was organized by host member RPM eco for NLCRC members and guests to witness Canada’s EPR program firsthand. The group took an afternoon tour to observe the stages of Canada's lubricant container recycling process, with stops at commercial oil change centers (material collection points), a municipal drop-off site, and a recycling facility. NLCRC members agreed it was valuable to see Canada’s EPR system in action, from post-consumer collection to recycling into new materials. The experience highlighted the long-term investment and collaboration needed for the program's success. It offered some valuable lessons for U.S.-based members as they prepare for the first EPR reporting deadlines in 2025:
Knowledge is power. Operators at each collection site were very knowledgeable about the process, carefully sorting, preparing, and staging packaging materials for pick up. When asked about the driver for their time investment in the recycling program, the resounding sentiment was,” It’s the right thing to do.” They recognize the program's significance and acknowledge that their step in the recycling process is just one part of a community partnership, requiring dedication from multiple stakeholders for materials to successfully reach the recycling plant instead of the landfill and ultimately achieve EPR regulatory compliance.
Accessibility is crucial for success. Seeing the relative ease of container drop-off at Canadian retail locations and the municipal Écocentre was remarkable. In speaking with site operators and our RPM eco hosts, NLCRC members learned that there was a significant investment to drive consumer and community education campaigns and expand EPR programs across Canada. It didn’t happen overnight—lessons were learned along the way to establish what works best for each stage of the post-consumer recycling process.
Power of Collective Action. Strong partnerships across the value chain and throughout communities are the reason for this success—from educating consumers about their role in materials collection to coordinating accessible drop-off and pick-up locations to building awareness of the innovative technologies that exist to drive circularity—an effort this big could not have been accomplished by one entity.
The NLCRC is dedicated to fostering collaborative action to drive solutions essential for the circularity of petroleum-based and related products. As the regulatory landscape evolves, the NLCRC remains focused on monitoring new legislation and preparing for changes to existing packaging laws and any new policies. To support these efforts, the NLCRC facilitated the formation of the Lubricant Packaging Management Association (LMPA). Although separate entities, the NLCRC and LMPA collaborate to optimize EPR compliance and maximize the impact of collection and recycling performance. Together, they are working to prepare industry members and the value chain for the upcoming EPR laws and recycling program changes in 2025.
The National Lubricant Container Recycling Coalition or “NLCRC” is an industry-led coalition funded by a committed consortium of value chain stakeholders focused on establishing solutions for the recovery and recycling of packaging for petroleum-based and related products utilized in the transportation and industrial applications Industry.
Members include Berry Global, Castrol (part of bp Group), Chevron, CKS Packaging Inc., ExxonMobil, Graham Packaging, Independent Lubricant Manufacturers Association, Lucas Oil, Nexus Circular, Pennzoil - Quaker State Company, Petroleum Packaging Council, Plastipak Packaging, RPM eco, Safety-Kleen, and Valvoline. For more information, visit https://www.nationallcrc.com
