Product Stewardship & EPR Matrix

The Product Stewardship & EPR Matrix covers state extended producer responsibility (EPR) or product stewardship enacted laws that shifts responsibility to product manufacturers and distributors (i.e., producers) for certain products and materials at the end of life. In many cases, retailers can fall within the scope of an EPR law’s definition of “producers.” Product and material classes subject to EPR may include: appliances containing refrigerants, auto switches, batteries, carpet, cell phones, electronics, electric and hybrid vehicle batteries, fluorescent lighting, gas cylinders, mattresses, mercury thermostats and mercury-containing products, microbead-containing products, paint, packaging/printed material, pesticide containers, pharmaceuticals, and textiles.

Product sale bans are included in the matrix. If a state requires retailers to only sell products from specified compliant manufacturers, the matrix provides links to compliant manufacturers. If the regulatory agency does not post this information (even when required by state law), retailers can contact the agency directly to verify that products from a manufacturer may be sold.

Note, the Product Stewardship & EPR Matrix does not include state laws that apply to retailers but not to manufacturers. For example, many states have laws with retailer responsibilities for lead-acid batteries that do not indicate any manufacturer responsibilities.

Please visit RILA’s EPR for Retail page to access additional resources on EPR for various materials, including e-waste and packaging.

For information on relevant stewardship organizations please see below:

• Carpet: Carpet America Recovery Effort (CARE) 
• Paint: PaintCare 
• Batteries: Call2Recycle
• Mattresses: Mattress Recycling Council