Two Illustrative Scenarios: A Washington Dairy and a Cleaning Products Company
What path do both made-up companies follow?
They ask four questions in order, and the table gives the statute's text for each. The order is our own arrangement, not a checklist the statute prints. Ecology calls chapter 70A.208 RCW the Recycling Reform Act (RRA); those words are not in the chapter's text. Everything said about the two companies is illustration.
| Question | What the statute's text says |
|---|---|
| 1. Producer? | For items sold in or with packaging at a physical retail location in Washington, the producer is named in a fixed order. It runs from the manufacturer to the person that first distributes the item in or into the state (RCW 70A.208.020(29)(a)(i)). De minimis producers are not producers ((29)(b)(iii)). See the first distributor article. |
| 2. De minimis? | Subsection (16) lists three items. Item (a): less than one ton of covered materials introduced in the most recent fiscal year. Item (b): global gross revenue, not including on-premises alcohol sales, below $5,000,000 for the prior fiscal year (inflation adjusted beginning January 1, 2031). Item (c): an agricultural employer test. The only conjunction printed is "or", before the last item, and the statute does not say in words how the items combine. See the de minimis article. |
| 3. Covered or exempt? | Covered material is packaging and paper products introduced into the state, other than exempt materials ((13)). The exempt list is in (19). See the materials article. |
| 4. Next step? | After July 1, 2026, a producer must be a member of a registered PRO or register as a PRO that will implement an individual plan (RCW 70A.208.040(1)(a)). See the deadlines article. |
The dairy is a small business that sells milk and yogurt in plastic and paper packaging to Washington shoppers. The cleaning products company sells cleaning products in plastic bottles and cardboard cartons to Washington shoppers. Neither has a name, address or figures.
Does the path settle the dairy's status?
Not on the description alone: it names products and packaging, not the facts that decide the producer question or the de minimis items.
Producer. The statute's text ((29)(a)(i)(A)): "If the item is sold in or with packaging under the brand of the item manufacturer or is sold in packaging that lacks identification of a brand, the producer is the person that manufactures the item." The illustration: if the dairy makes the milk and yogurt, and they are sold in packaging under its own brand at a physical retail location in Washington, the first step names the dairy.
De minimis. The description gives no packaging weight, revenue or farm activity, so no item can be tested. Item (c) is the one a dairy may look at. It covers an agricultural employer, as RCW 19.30.010(2) defines that term. The definition includes the growing, producing, or harvesting of farm or nursery products, and forestation or reforestation of lands. The revenue test is less than $5,000,000, adjusted for inflation as item (b) describes, in gross revenue in Washington from consumer sales of agricultural commodities sold under the employer's brand name. Section 020 does not define "agricultural commodities." So item (c) depends on whether the dairy is an agricultural employer and whether its milk and yogurt are agricultural commodities sold under its brand name.
Materials. The statute's text: packaging is a material used to protect, contain, transport, serve, or facilitate delivery of a product and sold or supplied with it to the consumer for personal, noncommercial use (RCW 70A.208.020(25)). The illustration: the dairy's plastic and paper packaging fits that wording on its face. The exempt list names no milk, yogurt or dairy item, and at this article's last verification date Ecology's producer page says recyclable or compostable packaging is not exempt.
Three steps for the dairy:
- Write down each product, who makes it, whose brand is on it and where it is sold.
- Gather what the de minimis items ask for, including the agricultural employer facts.
- Check each package, and any paper given to shoppers, against the exempt list and subsection (26).
Does the path settle the cleaning products company's status?
No. Here the materials step is what differs: several exempt items turn on a fact about the specific product.
The first two questions run as for the dairy. Suppose a contract manufacturer fills bottles that carry the company's brand. Section 020 does not define "manufactures," and the later steps for a licensed manufacturer and the brand owner may matter, depending on who holds a license and who owns the brand. Nothing in the description makes the company an agricultural employer, so the weight and revenue items are the ones to test.
A plastic bottle or cardboard carton sold with a cleaning product fits the packaging definition on its face, so the exempt list decides. Three items matter first:
| Exempt item | What the statute's text says | What decides it |
|---|---|---|
| (h) | Packaging for products regulated by the United States environmental protection agency under the federal insecticide, fungicide, and rodenticide act | Whether EPA regulates the specific product under that act. The statute lists no products. |
| (j) | Packaging used to contain hazardous or flammable products classified by the 2012 federal occupational safety and health administration hazard communication standard, 29 C.F.R. Sec. 1910.1200 (2024), that prevent the packaging from being reduced or made reusable, recyclable, or compostable, as determined by the department | Three conditions travel together: the product's classification under that standard, packaging that cannot be reduced or made reusable, recyclable or compostable because of it, and Ecology's determination. Classification alone does not decide it. |
| (l) | Excluded materials, as determined by the department under RCW 70A.208.260 | A producer, group of producers or PRO may petition Ecology for a temporary exclusion for listed product categories, including products regulated under the poison prevention packaging act. Ecology decides. |
The statute requires Ecology's public website to include the list of exempt materials (RCW 70A.208.060(2)(v)). The materials article covers the petition.
Three steps for the cleaning products company:
- Record each product's federal regulatory status and hazard classification from the company's own records.
- Compare each packaging part with the exempt list, look for the list Ecology's website must carry, and ask its Recycling Reform Act team about close calls.
- Gather the weight and revenue figures.
What comes after a company finds it is a producer?
After July 1, 2026, a producer must be a member of a PRO registered in this state or register as a PRO that will implement an individual plan (RCW 70A.208.040(1)(a)).
At this article's last verification date, Ecology's producer page says Circular Action Alliance (CAA) is the PRO representing producers in Washington and encourages all potentially obligated producers to register with it. CAA's registration page says each company must review the producer definition and decide whether it is a covered producer; CAA cannot decide that for you.
Two sources point to what to keep. RCW 70A.208.060(7) says that when Ecology asks, a person must furnish information the person has or may reasonably obtain. At that date CAA's reporting page said producers report quantities of covered materials supplied into applicable states, including sales, packaging weights and brands. Our own suggestion: keep notes from each step, with the document behind each answer.
Common questions
How does the RRA apply to a dairy company?
Only if the dairy is a producer, is not a de minimis producer and introduces covered materials. Those turn on who makes and brands its products, on weight and revenue, and on the agricultural employer question. The description settles none of them.
How does it apply to a cleaning products company?
The same order applies. The difference is the exempt list, where items (h), (j) and (l) can reach packaging for regulated, hazardous or flammable products. The exempt definition covers "materials, or any portion of materials." Our own reading is that different packaging parts, such as bottle, cap and carton, may get different answers.
Which dairy packaging could be covered?
Any packaging that fits RCW 70A.208.020(25) and is not exempt. Flyers given to shoppers could be paper products under subsection (26), and a separate producer list in (29)(a)(iv) and (v) applies to them. Two exempt items turn on use. Item (o) covers materials one producer distributes to another that later contain a product sent to a business to make another product. Item (p) covers materials used and collected in a commercial setting, on further conditions. The description shows neither.
Are cleaning product containers covered?
They can be. A bottle or carton sold with the product fits the packaging definition on its face, but covered material excludes exempt materials. Item (h), (j) or (l) may apply, depending on the product's federal status, hazard classification and Ecology's determination.
What steps do both companies take?
The same four, in order: the producer list, the de minimis items, the covered and exempt definitions, then a PRO or an individual plan if the company remains a producer. Each keeps notes as it goes, starting with the three steps under its scenario.
What to do next
- Describe each product line in plain words: who makes it, whose brand is on it and where you sell it.
- Run the producer order and exclusions with the coverage checklist.
- Compare your figures with each de minimis item.
- Check each packaging part against the exempt list and subsection (26).
- Choose a PRO or an individual plan if you are a producer and no de minimis item applies.
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.
The Washington EPR Compliance Assessment takes one product line through these four questions and marks where the statute stops.
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General information, not legal advice.