The Minnesota Pollution Control Agency (MPCA) has designated Circular Action Alliance (CAA) as its producer responsibility organization (PRO) under the state’s new Packaging Waste & Cost Reduction Act. Enacted in early 2024, this extended producer responsibility (EPR) law requires producers of packaging, food packaging, and paper products to participate in a PRO to fund and coordinate waste reduction, recycling, and composting efforts statewide. As the designated PRO, CAA will work to improve collection and processing systems, encourage sustainable packaging design, and shift costs of waste management from taxpayers to producers.
Minnesota joins California, Colorado, Maine, and Oregon in advancing EPR programs, with CAA already leading similar efforts in other states. CAA became the first approved PRO to implement an EPR program for packaging and paper products in the United States after the Colorado Department of Public Health & Environment appointed the organization in 2023. Since then, CAA has also been selected by CalRecycle as California’s PRO, was appointed by the Maryland Department of Environment to represent producer interests on its State Producer Responsibility Advisory Council, and has submitted a final program plan to the Oregon Department of Environmental Quality in preparation for the start of Oregon’s EPR program in July 2025.
In addition to confirming its PRO, MPCA has announced the appointment of 18 individuals to the Packaging EPR Advisory Board that will oversee implementation and provide guidance.
More information is available on MPCA’s extended producer responsibility for packaging page.
