LD 1541 · enacted 2021

Maine packaging EPR: what you owe and when

Stewardship Program for Packaging. Current phase: No stewardship organization under contract; schedule being reassessed.

Facts last verified 14 September 2026.

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Am I covered

For packaging sold in Maine the producer is, in order: the manufacturer if the item carries its own brand or no brand, then a licensee, then the brand owner. Only where none of those has a physical presence in the United States does it pass to the importer of record, and then to whoever first distributes the item into Maine. For online sales, whoever packs the item for delivery is the producer of the shipping packaging.

Source: Maine Revised Statutes, Title 38, section 2146 , 38 M.R.S. 2146(1)(O). Verified 14 September 2026.

The exemption

Not yet confirmed. The revenue threshold. Maine exempts producers under a total gross revenue limit and under one ton of packaging sold into Maine, but the statute and the Maine DEP's own program page state the $2,000,000 and $5,000,000 revenue thresholds in opposite order over time, and no rule settles which is right. We would rather show you a gap than a plausible number.

What the threshold is measured against

Not yet confirmed. Whether total gross revenue means revenue everywhere or only from sales into Maine. Neither the statute nor the rule defines it. We would rather show you a gap than a plausible number.

What you owe

Registration

Producers register with the stewardship organization, not with the Maine DEP, within 90 days of the organization opening start-up registration. No organization is under contract, so registration has not opened; the DEP says it will announce it.

Source: Maine DEP rule 06-096 C.M.R. chapter 428, Stewardship Program for Packaging , 06-096 C.M.R. ch. 428, sections 8 and 9(A). Verified 14 September 2026.

Who runs the program

Maine does not use a producer-run organization. The Maine DEP picks one stewardship organization by competitive bid for a ten-year contract; it collects producer payments and reimburses participating municipalities. The DEP's request for proposals received no proposals by its August 18, 2026 deadline, and the DEP is assessing its options.

Source: Maine DEP bulletin, Stewardship Organization RFP: No Proposals Submitted as of Deadline (August 20, 2026) , 38 M.R.S. 2146(3). Verified 14 September 2026.

Reporting

Once the program runs, producers report every year by May 31 to the stewardship organization on the packaging they sold into Maine in the prior calendar year, by material type. Producers of under 15 tons report only their total tons. The organization invoices by July 1 and payment is due by September 1. No first reporting year has been set.

Source: Maine DEP rule 06-096 C.M.R. chapter 428, Stewardship Program for Packaging , 38 M.R.S. 2146(7); 06-096 C.M.R. ch. 428, sections 9 and 10. Verified 14 September 2026.

Fee schedule

Maine has not published a final fee schedule. Maine has not set producer payments: no stewardship organization is under contract. We will not fill that gap with another state's numbers or a national average, because a budget built on either is wrong in a way you cannot see.

Eco-modulation

Set in the rule but not yet charged, because no stewardship organization is under contract. Packaging that is not readily recyclable pays twice the per-ton cost of the most expensive readily recyclable type, with added fees from the third year of reporting for missing recycled content goals, missing certificates of no intentionally added toxics, and misleading recyclability labels. Producers of under 15 tons pay a flat fee of no more than $500 per ton and $7,500 a year.

Source: Maine DEP rule 06-096 C.M.R. chapter 428, Stewardship Program for Packaging , 06-096 C.M.R. ch. 428, section 10; 38 M.R.S. 2146(6). Verified 14 September 2026.

Timing: the year you sell is not the year you pay

Not yet confirmed. When Maine producers are first invoiced. No first reporting year has been set, because no stewardship organization is under contract. We would rather show you a gap than a plausible number.

If you do not comply

Section 2146 gives enforcement to the Maine DEP and sets no penalty amounts of its own. From one calendar year after the DEP's contract with a stewardship organization takes effect, a producer that is not in compliance may not sell the affected products into Maine, and the DEP publishes lists of compliant and noncompliant producers and brands.

Source: Maine Revised Statutes, Title 38, section 2146 , 38 M.R.S. 2146(4) and (13). Verified 14 September 2026.

Recent changes

March 3, 2026: amendments to the rule took effect, adding the list of packaging material types and which count as readily recyclable.

Source: Maine DEP rule 06-096 C.M.R. chapter 428, Stewardship Program for Packaging , 06-096 C.M.R. ch. 428, Appendix A. Verified 14 September 2026.

August 20, 2026: the Maine DEP announced that its request for proposals for a stewardship organization received no proposals.

Source: Maine DEP bulletin (August 20, 2026) . Verified 14 September 2026.

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Run your own numbers

Enter what you supply into Maine, in pounds, against this state's own reporting categories. You get a fee with the public document behind every rate it used.

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