SB 5284 · enacted 2025

Washington packaging EPR: what you owe and when

Recycling Reform Act, chapter 70A.208 RCW. Current phase: Registration and needs assessments; stewardship plan due October 2028.

Facts last verified 14 September 2026.

Estimate your Washington fee

Am I covered

For packaging sold in Washington the producer is, in order: the manufacturer if the item carries its own brand or no brand, then a licensee making it under someone else's brand, then the brand owner. Only where none of those is in the United States does it pass to the importer of record, and then to whoever first distributes the item into Washington. For online sales, whoever packs the item to ship it is the producer of the shipping packaging.

Source: RCW 70A.208.020, Definitions , RCW 70A.208.020(29). Verified 14 September 2026.

The exemption

A de minimis producer is not covered: one that introduced less than one ton of covered materials in its most recent fiscal year, or has global gross revenue under $5,000,000 (excluding on-premises alcohol sales, and adjusted for inflation from January 1, 2031), or is an agricultural employer with under $5,000,000 of Washington revenue from its own-brand agricultural commodities. Government bodies and 501(c)(3) and 501(c)(4) organizations are also excluded.

Source: RCW 70A.208.020, Definitions , RCW 70A.208.020(16) and (29)(b). Verified 14 September 2026.

What the threshold is measured against

Meeting any one test is enough. The tonnage test counts covered materials sold, distributed or shipped into Washington; the revenue test uses global gross revenue, not Washington sales; the agricultural test uses Washington revenue. The chapter does not say whether a ton is a short ton or a metric ton.

Source: RCW 70A.208.020, Definitions , RCW 70A.208.020(13), (16), (19) and (22). Verified 14 September 2026.

What you owe

Registration

Producers had to appoint a producer responsibility organization by January 1, 2026, and since July 1, 2026 must be a member of one registered in Washington, or register as an organization with an individual plan. The organization registers with Ecology for its members every year. From March 1, 2029 a producer that is not a member in good standing may not sell covered materials into Washington.

Source: RCW 70A.208.030 and 70A.208.040 , RCW 70A.208.030(1) and (2); RCW 70A.208.040(1) and (2). Verified 14 September 2026.

Who runs the program

Circular Action Alliance, which Ecology names as the producer responsibility organization representing producers in Washington. Its draft stewardship plan is due to Ecology by October 1, 2028.

Source: Washington State Department of Ecology, Producer Responsibility Organization , RCW 70A.208.030; RCW 70A.208.040(3)(c). Verified 14 September 2026.

Reporting

The statute sets no reporting date for producers to Ecology. Producers report what they supply into Washington to their producer responsibility organization, whose annual registration lists each producer's brands, and the organization files annual program reports with Ecology from July 1, 2031.

Source: Chapter 70A.208 RCW , RCW 70A.208.030(2)(b); RCW 70A.208.200(1). Verified 14 September 2026.

Fee schedule

Washington has not published a final fee schedule. Washington has not set producer fees. 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

Required but not yet in force. Once a plan is approved, fees must encourage removing toxic substances, less packaging, reuse, postconsumer content, recyclability or compostability and renewable inputs, and discourage the rest, including materials not on the statewide collection lists. Until then the organization may charge fees by market share or another equitable method.

Source: RCW 70A.208.160, Producer fees , RCW 70A.208.160(1) and (2). Verified 14 September 2026.

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

Not yet confirmed. When Washington producers are first invoiced. The stewardship plan will set it. We would rather show you a gap than a plausible number.

If you do not comply

Up to $1,000 per violation per day, and up to $10,000 per violation per day for a second or later violation. Ecology must first send a notice of violation, and may penalize only a producer still out of compliance 60 days after written notice.

Source: RCW 70A.208.230, Enforcement authority, penalties , RCW 70A.208.230. Verified 14 September 2026.

Recent changes

March 4, 2026: Circular Action Alliance was announced as Washington's producer responsibility organization.

Source: Circular Action Alliance, announcement as the producer responsibility organization in Washington . Verified 14 September 2026.

March 19, 2026: Ecology began rulemaking for chapter 173-950 WAC. It estimates adoption in April 2028.

Source: Washington State Department of Ecology, Chapter 173-950 WAC, Recycling Reform . Verified 14 September 2026.

August 2026: Ecology took comments on preliminary statewide collection lists, which decide which materials cost more.

Source: Washington State Department of Ecology, Recycling Reform Act , RCW 70A.208.090. Verified 14 September 2026.

Other state guides

Run your own numbers

Enter what you supply into Washington, 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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