Feb. 25, 2026 | Abbi Duhart | News Editor
On July 1, 2025, the Plastic Pollution and Recycling Modernization Act was passed in Oregon, seeking to set statewide recycling laws and spread recycling standards and services throughout the state.
The new law stated that companies in Oregon that make over $5 million in annual revenue and sell packaged products such as residential and commercial packaging, printing and writing paper and food serviceware must pay a fee that goes toward improving recycling standards. Companies to oblige include General Mills, Ikea, Keurig and Dr Pepper — businesses that often produce a lot of waste when packaging and selling their products.
The fee that companies received was centered around how much paper and packaging they produced, based both on weight and type. The revenues from the fees are then used to help pay for recycling services, such as purchasing new recycling trucks or recycling bins and educating Oregon residents on how to recycle.
The fees are collected by an Oregon nonprofit organization called the Circular Action Alliance — a U.S. Producer Responsibility Organization who are “dedicated to implementing effective Extended Producer Responsibility laws for paper and packaging.”
In 2025, when the act was introduced, the fees that Oregon businesses were charged with from it made up less than 5% of all producer fees in Oregon, though many businesses argued it was still more than they could afford because they had a rigid financial plan that was being thrown off.
Just a few weeks after the act was put in place, the National Association of Wholesaler Distributors sued the Oregon Department of Environmental Quality, arguing that many businesses have very little control over the rates they pay for packaging.
In response to the lawsuit, Oregon lawmakers considered a bill that would exempt companies that sell essential foods such as packaged berries, meats, poultry, fish and seafood. A number of businesses are in support of this proposed bill, though many still argue that the recycling fees should be put on pause for all producers, regardless of the product.
Lawmakers paused the recycling act in November, and it is still paused until the lawsuit is resolved and a consensus reached.
The National Association of Wholesaler Distributors says that the recycling system put in place is unconstitutional and that the Department of Environmental Quality delegated “essential regulatory authority” as well as “sweeping regulatory power” to a third-party organization — the Circular Action Alliance.
It’s unclear whether the recycling system will be kept, adapted or removed, but those in favor have expressed the benefits of it. The new recycling system would bring recycling services to more than 150,000 households in Oregon that don’t already have them. Though it’s difficult for companies to adapt to a new system, it’s clear the benefits that recycling has on the environment.
Contact the author at howlnews@wou.edu
