How Circular Economy Design Can Lower Your RRA Compliance Costs

What is circular economy design?

Circular economy design means designing packaging so the materials in it stay useful instead of becoming waste after one use. That can mean using less material, using material that already came from something recycled, choosing a material a local facility can actually sort and recycle, or building a container to be reused rather than thrown away. Washington's law does not use the phrase "circular economy" in its text, but its fee rule rewards exactly this kind of design.

RCW 70A.208.160(2)(c) requires a producer responsibility organization's fee to incentivize materials and design attributes that reduce environmental and human health impacts, through seven listed means: removing intentionally added toxic substances, reducing the amount of packaging per item and the paper used per product, increasing the amount of material managed through reuse, increasing postconsumer recycled content, improving recyclability or compostability, increasing renewable and sustainable inputs without hurting recyclability, and other methods the department approves. RCW 70A.208.160(2)(d) requires the fee to discourage materials and design choices whose impacts could be reduced by those same methods.

How can packaging design lower my RRA fees?

Match each factor in the statute to a question you can bring to your packaging supplier. The statute names the factor; your producer responsibility organization decides how much weight each one carries in the fee it sets.

RCW 70A.208.160(2)(a) also ties the fee to the total amount of covered material each producer introduces, calculated per unit, such as per ton or per item. Less material per unit is one lever every producer controls before any design change to the material itself. RCW 70A.208.160(2)(b) reflects each covered material type's program cost, net of its commodity value when recycled, with fees proportional to cost for material on the statewide lists and higher for material that is not listed. Choosing a material Ecology's statewide lists already cover is itself a design decision with a cost consequence.

Does recycled content reduce EPR fees?

The statute lists postconsumer recycled content as one of the design attributes a producer responsibility organization's fee must incentivize, under RCW 70A.208.160(2)(c). That means the fee structure is required to reward it in some way. The statute sets no rate and no formula for how much a given percentage of recycled content is worth in dollars. Your producer responsibility organization's approved plan and published fee schedule are where an actual number would appear, not the statute itself.

How does reuse and refill work under the RRA?

RCW 70A.208.160(2)(e) requires the annual fee to prioritize reuse by charging covered materials that are managed through a reuse system only once, upon initial entry into the marketplace. A container that goes out, comes back, gets cleaned and goes out again under a genuine reuse system is charged that first time, not every cycle. That is a structural rule in the fee, not a discount a producer applies for. If you are exploring a refill or return program, ask your producer responsibility organization how it defines a qualifying reuse system, since the statute leaves that definition to the approved plan. Our eco-modulation article covers the full fee mechanism these design factors feed into.

Where should a producer start?

Start with the products you already sell, not a redesign project. A short list of questions to take to your producer responsibility organization:

• Which of our current packaging components are on the statewide covered materials list, and which are not?
• How does your fee schedule weigh recycled content against virgin material for our material types?
• What counts as a qualifying reuse system under your approved plan, and how is it charged?
• Of the seven design attributes in RCW 70A.208.160(2)(c), which carry the most weight in your current fee rates?
• Is there a technical assistance program for producers evaluating a design change?

I ran an EPR recycling company in Colombia from 2020 to 2024 that kept more than 1,500 tons of plastic and cardboard out of landfills each year by turning it into plastic wood. That work taught me that a material only helps a producer's costs if a real facility can actually process it, not just in theory. Ask your supplier and your producer responsibility organization that question before you commit to a redesign.

Common questions

How can packaging design lower my RRA fees?

By moving toward the design attributes RCW 70A.208.160(2)(c) requires a producer responsibility organization's fee to reward: less material per item, more recycled content, better recyclability, and reuse. The statute requires the fee to move in that direction; it does not set the size of the saving, which depends on your producer responsibility organization's rates.

What is circular economy design?

Designing packaging so materials stay useful instead of becoming waste, through less material, recycled content, recyclable material, or reuse. Washington's statute does not use the phrase "circular economy," but its fee rule in RCW 70A.208.160(2)(c) rewards these same choices by name, listing them as attributes a producer responsibility organization's fee must incentivize.

Does recycled content reduce EPR fees?

The statute requires a producer responsibility organization's fee to incentivize postconsumer recycled content, under RCW 70A.208.160(2)(c). It sets no dollar figure for how much a given percentage is worth. Check your producer responsibility organization's published fee schedule for the actual rate before you assume a saving.

How does reuse and refill work under the RRA?

RCW 70A.208.160(2)(e) charges material managed through a genuine reuse system only once, when it first enters the market, instead of every cycle. Ask your producer responsibility organization how it defines a qualifying reuse system before you build a program around this rule.

Where should a producer start?

With the products you already sell. List your current packaging components, check which are on the statewide covered materials list, and bring the seven design attributes in RCW 70A.208.160(2)(c) to your supplier and your producer responsibility organization as questions, not assumptions.

What to do next

1. List your current packaging components by material type, weight and whether each is on Ecology's statewide covered materials list.
2. Ask your producer responsibility organization for its fee schedule and how it weighs each of the seven design attributes in RCW 70A.208.160(2)(c).
3. Bring one design question per component to your supplier, using the table above as a starting list.
4. Ask about reuse system rules before assuming a refill program qualifies for the once-only fee in RCW 70A.208.160(2)(e).
5. Read how eco-modulation fees work for the full fee structure these design factors sit inside.

I am a Distinguished Committee Member of the SWANA Sustainable Materials Management Technical Division and a juror for the NYSAR3 Recycling Leadership Awards, both since 2023.

Want a second set of eyes on your packaging list before you talk to your producer responsibility organization? The Washington EPR Compliance Assessment covers exactly that.

Get the Washington EPR Compliance Assessment

General information, not legal advice.