Massachusetts Senate Docket 1774 (2025) - (Introduced)

Covered materials are any packaging material or paper product, regardless of recyclability, reusability or compostability, that are sold, offered for sale, or distributed to consumers in the state, including through an internet transaction.

Packaging is a material or set of materials that are used to protect, contain, transport, dispense or serve a solid, liquid, or gaseous product; sold or supplied to consumers expressly for the purpose of protecting, containing, transporting, or serving products; attached to a product or its container for the purpose of marketing or communicating information about the product, or supplied at the point of sale to facilitate the delivery of the product.

Paper product is paper that can be or has been printed on, including flyers, brochures, booklets, catalogs, greeting cards, magazines, paper used for copying, writing or any other general use.

Paper product does not include:

1. Products that, by virtue of their anticipated use, could become unsafe or unsanitary to recycle
2. Any literary, text, reference, or other bound book
3. Newspapers

Packaging does not include:

1. Medical device or packaging that is included with products regulated as a drug, medical device, or dietary supplement by the United States Food and Drug Administration
2. Animal biologics, including, but not limited to, vaccines, bacterins, antisera,diagnostic kits, other products of biological origin, and other packaging and paper products regulated by the United States Department of Agriculture under the Federal Virus, Serum, Toxin Act
3. Packaging regulated under the Federal Insecticide, Fungicide, and Rodenticide Act
4. Material intended to be used for the long-term storage or protection of a durable product and that can be expected to be usable for that purpose for a period of at least three years
5. A durable product that can be expected to be usable for a period of at least three years.

Residences are covered entities.

Schools, municipal buildings are covered entities.

Small businesses and hospitality locations are covered entities.

Public spaces are covered entities.

Producer, with respect to a covered material, a party that has legal ownership of the brand of a product using covered material for sale, use, or distribution in the state, including online retailers.

A person who manufactures a product under the manufacturer’s own brand that uses covered material is the producer.

If there is no brand the producer is a person who is not the manufacturer of a product under the manufacturer’s own brand that uses covered material, but is the owner or licensee of a trademark under which a covered material is used in a commercial enterprise, sold, offered for sale or distributed in the state, whether or not the trademark is registered.

If there is no brand or licensee, a person who imports the product that uses the covered material into the state for use in a commercial enterprise, sale, offer for sale or distribution in the commonwealth.

The definition of producer includes a franchisor of a franchise located in the commonwealth but does not include the franchisee operating that franchise.

A producer is exempt from the requirements in any calendar year in which the producer realized less than $1,000,000 in total gross revenue during the prior calendar year, or the producer sold, offered for sale or distributed for sale in or into the commonwealth during the prior calendar year products contained, protected, delivered, presented or distributed in or using less than one ton of covered material in total.

The definition of producer does not include a nonprofit organization exempt from taxation under the United States Internal Revenue Code, Section 501(c)(3).

The Department shall issue a competitive solicitation to select a qualified Packaging Reduction Organization within 120 days of enactment of this Act.

The Packaging reduction organization is a not-for-profit entity formed by all producers, whether directly or by trade organizations for subgroups of producers, and contracted by the department to act as an agent on behalf of each producer to develop and implement a packaging reduction plan.

The PRO shall reimburse participating collectors for incurred net costs associated with processing and recycling of covered materials from covered entities. The PRO shall ensure that, in the event no collector has elected to participate in the program in a given jurisdiction, convenient, equitable and free access to recycling services is available to all covered entities within that jurisdiction.

The PRO shall make reimbursement payments from the fund to participating collectors for incurred costs associated with municipal transfer station operation, processing and recycling of covered materials from all covered entities.

The PRO payments must include education and outreach costs.

The PRO payments must include administrative and enforcement costs.

The PRO payments must include infrastructure investment costs.

The PRO must include a flat-rate fee schedule for producers generating between one and fifteen tons of covered materials annually.

Packaging reduction program must collect payments from producers based on the type and weight of covered material sold, offered for sale or distributed for sale in the commonwealth by each producer, and the disbursement of funds for the expenses related to all activities required by the plan.

The department shall regularly publish a schedule of adjustments to be used by the PRO in determining the amount of producer payments required.

The schedule of fee adjustments must be structured to incent increased use of post-consumer recycled content material in covered materials so long as it does not increase the toxicity of the packaging material.

The schedule of fee adjustments must be structured to incent minimal life cycle impact of covered materials

The schedule of fee adjustments must be structured to incent reuse and lifespan extension of packaging.

The schedule of fee adjustments must be structured to incent the use of the minimum quantity of packaging necessary to effectively deliver a product without damage or spoilage.

The schedule of fee adjustments must be structured to incent reduced use of toxic substances in covered materials, which raise the lifecycle environmental and societal costs of packaging.

The schedule of fee adjustments must be structured to incent:

1. Waste reduction
2. Use of readily recyclable materials to manufacture covered materials
3. Domestic processing
4. Single-material packaging with clear recycling or disposal instructions for consumers,

and other design characteristics that reduce contamination in recycling.

The plan must include how the PRO intends to achieve and assist collectors and facilities in achieving a combined reduction from a specified baseline and recycling rate, based on regular audits of outbound tonnages of covered material from facilities as reported to the department, sufficient to meet the waste reduction goals for each covered material category consistent with the Solid Waste Master Plan.

Targets shall be set by the department in five-year increments beginning in 2030. The PRO shall also provide a description of how it intends to achieve and assist collectors and facilities in achieving performance standards for each covered material category as published annually by the department.

The PRO plan must include a proposed schedule of minimum post-consumer recycled material content rate requirements for covered materials, including a description of how the PRO intends to meet the proposed minimum post-consumer recycled material content rates. The minimum post-consumer recycled material content rates shall include each covered material category, and shall not be less than ten percent of all material in each covered material category, by weight by 2035.

All collectors, regardless of participation status, shall provide convenient collection and recycling of readily recycled materials covered recyclables to all covered entities to which they provide disposal service at a single cost incorporated in the trash collection rate.

Within six months of the promulgation of relate regulations by the department and the acceptance of the needs assessment, the packaging reduction PRO shall submit a plan for the establishment of the packaging reduction program to the department for approval.

All regulations developed under these sections shall be promulgated no later than twelve months after the passage of this act.

Within thirty days of approval of the plan, no producer, distributor, retailer, or other responsible party for a covered material shall sell, offer for sale, use, or distribute any covered material to any person in the commonwealth if the producer of such materials is not in compliance. No collector may provide collection for disposal unless they are in compliance. Any producer or collector that violates this section shall be subject to a fine for each violation and for each day that the violation occurs in an amount of not more than $200,000.

The department shall review the plan submitted by the PRO and approve or deny the plan within ninety days of receipt.

The PRO shall deposit into the packaging reduction fund all payments received from producers and shall expend those funds for the following uses:

To reimburse participating collectors

To fund the actual operating costs of the PRO, which may not exceed the estimated operating costs indicated in the plan approved by the department, and which must be verified through a third-party audit paid for by the PRO

To pay into the sustainable packaging trust all applicable fees

To invest in education and infrastructure that support the reduction, recycling and reuse of covered material in the commonwealth must be approved by the department prior to any such expenditures, and must incorporate input from the advisory committee.

The PRO shall submit an annual report to the department on a regular schedule determined by the department for the preceding calendar year the program was in operation.

The department may bring a civil action to enjoin the sale, distribution, or importation into the commonwealth of a covered material in violation of this part.

The department may bring a civil action to enjoin the operation of a collector that fails to provide convenient recycling service at an all-inclusive price to covered entities.

The department may engage the services of a multistate clearinghouse for this purpose, and join multi-state civil actions.The penalties provided for in this section may be recovered in a civil action brought in the name of the People of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts by the Commonwealth’sAttorney General. Any funds collected under this section in an action in which the Attorney General has prevailed shall be deposited in the sustainable packaging trust.

Education and outreach must provide recycling instructions that are to the extent practicable, consistent statewide; easy to understand in each language spoken by 5% or more of the state’s population; easily accessible; and in compliance with the annually published list of readily recyclable materials.

Education and outreach must provide information on how to prevent litter of covered materials.

Education and outreach must provide for outreach and education that are designed to achieve covered materials goals, including the prevention of contamination of material streams; coordinated across programs or regions to avoid confusion for consumers; and developed in consultation with the advisory committee.

No later than three months from enactment, the department shall establish an advisory committee that represents a range of interested and engaged persons, including the commissioner of the department of environmental protection or a designee, one member who shall be appointed by the attorney general and who shall have expertise in consumer protection, and one individual each representing producers, retailers, private waste haulers that do not operate material recovery facilities, material recovery facility operators, municipalities, environmental PROs, recycling advocacy organizations, health care facilities, colleges and universities, entertainment venues, freshwater and marine litter programs, reuse organizations and environmental and human health scientists.

Each individual serving on the advisory committee may represent only one member of each category listed under this paragraph, and the organization shall ensure that no category has a disproportionate representation on an advisory committee. The department may select a third-party facilitator for the advisory committee.

Readily-recycled a type of covered material category, as annually determined by the department that:

1. Can be sorted and aggregated by entities that process recyclable material generated in the commonwealth and is based on data from the prior two calendar years entities that further process or utilize the material are willing to purchase full bales of that type of fully sorted covered material in quantities equal to or in excess of the supply of that fully sorted covered material.

Readily-recycled does not include covered material categories or types that facilities accept in low quantities or sort out of material during additional processing steps; if facilities cannot aggregate or sell a full bale of a specific covered material category due to a lack of market or inability to feasibly separate, that covered material type is not readily-recyclable. Covered material categories or types shall not be considered readily-recyclable, recyclable, compostable, or reusable if they contain toxic substances.

Recycling does not include energy recovery or energy generation by means of combustion; pyrolysis, gasification and any other high-heat chemical conversion processes; landfill disposal of discarded covered material or discarded product component materials; or the residue resulting from the processing of packaging or paper products at an MRF, use as alternative daily cover, or any other beneficial use at a landfill.

A producer or PRO, including a producer's or PRO's officers, members, employees and agents that organize a packaging and paper product program or an alternative collection program, is immune from liability for the producer's or PRO’s conduct under state laws relating to antitrust, restraint of trade, unfair trade practices and other regulation of trade or commerce only to the extent necessary to plan and implement the producer's or PRO’s packaging and paper product program or alternative collection program.

Beginning one year after passage, the department shall establish a toxic substance list, and may reference existing toxic or hazardous substances lists created by other state agencies and the Interstate Chemicals Clearinghouse. Any person may petition the department to add a chemical or chemical class substance to the list based on scientific evidence. The department shall review and update the list of toxic substances at least every three years.

The PRO shall complete a needs assessment within twelve months of contract award. The needs assessment shall assess consumption, materials management quantities, infrastructure and market conditions in the State for managing covered materials. The Department shall establish definitions for covered material categories to be evaluated in the Needs Assessment.

Reusable packaging which is designed to be recirculated multiple times for the same or similar purpose in its original format in a system for reuse, and is owned by producers or a third party and returned to producers or a third party after each use.

A producer or group of producers may develop and operate an alternative collection program to collect and manage a type or types of covered material sold, offered for sale or distributed for sale in or into the commonwealth by the producer or producers. A producer that manages a type of covered material under an approved alternative collection program through reduction, reuse, recycling may wholly or partially offset the producer's payment obligations under the packaging and paper product program with respect to that same type of covered material only.

The department shall coordinate with the PRO to establish categories of covered materials. The covered material categories shall group covered materials that have similar properties such as chemical composition, shape, or other characteristics, including, but not limited to: rigid or flexible plastics made of polyethylene terephthalate (PET), polyethylene (PE), polyvinyl chloride (PVC), polypropylene (PP), polystyrene (PS), poly coated fiber, multi-layered material, other (BPA, Compostable Plastics, Polycarbonate and LEXAN); metal, such as aluminum, tin, and steel; paper; cartons; and glass.

In the plan the PRO must fund representative third-party, independent audits of both inbound and outbound recyclable material generated in the commonwealth that is processed and sold by each facility in the state; waste characterizations of municipal solid waste being disposed of at each municipal waste combustor in the state; and litter audits. The audits must be conducted at least annually.