Recycling has become second nature for many Americans—a simple act that reflects a shared commitment to cleaner communities and a healthier planet. But while those blue bins are full of good intentions, not everything that goes in gets a second life. The good news? Innovative policies are helping close that gap, ensuring more materials are actually recycled and making the system more effective for everyone.
This spring, Maryland and Washington lawmakers invested in improving their respective states’ recycling systems by enacting Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR) bills for packaging into law. This critical step toward modernizing state recycling systems will deliver the kind of real-world change Marylanders and Washingtonians deserve. They now join five other states, including California, Colorado, Maine, Minnesota, and Oregon, that also have EPR for packaging laws.
EPR is a straightforward concept with powerful results. It shifts the cost and responsibility of managing plastic waste away from taxpayers and local governments to where it belongs—with the companies that create the waste in the first place.
EPR laws require producers to fund and help manage the collection, sorting, and recycling of their packaging. This creates a direct financial incentive to design products that are reusable, recyclable, or compostable. It also helps keep materials out of landfills, incinerators, and nature.
When EPR is in place, these laws strengthen funding, set clearer standards, and prioritize investments in existing infrastructure, ensuring programs that already work can thrive. The goal isn’t to start from scratch. It’s to take what works and implement it on a large scale.
While funding for EPR falls on the companies, in each state producer-led nonprofits called Producer Responsibility Organizations (or PROs) are set up to oversee implementation, ensuring the system works efficiently while being accountable for results. And far from replacing existing services, these laws ensure producers reimburse local governments for most waste management costs, enabling counties and municipalities across these states to maintain the programs they already run, while relieving the financial burden and increasing more sustainable practices. States across the country have made progress on recycling, but the job isn’t done. Too much valuable material still ends up as trash. And too many residents are stuck navigating unclear or inconsistent rules.
Government leaders across the country should follow the leadership of Maryland, Washington, and other states by introducing and passing their own EPR legislation. There is reason for optimism. Eight other states, including Rhode Island, Tennessee, and Hawaii, have introduced EPR bills in their legislatures. And recognition is growing that, ultimately, the best solution is a federal EPR framework that replaces the current patchwork of state laws with a unified system, reducing compliance burdens for producers and ensuring consistent recycling standards nationwide.
EPR gives us the tools to fix what’s broken and build on what works. The more states that adopt it, the closer we get to a truly modern recycling system.
