New laws make companies pay a yearly fee on the waste created by their packaging; boxes, bags, film, pallets, labels, etc. they ship. The rules are confusing and the deadlines have already started. We work out what you owe, prove the numbers, and give you a plan to lower them.
One customer had no packaging data at the BOM level, so they guessed at their fees. The guess was high. We completed an on-site audit to check their actual packaging. Their estimated yearly fee for one state came down by more than $200,000. That money was never owed. They just had no way to know that. In the process we identified ways to meet California’s 25% plastics reduction target and multiple cost savings opportunities.
If you sell a product in one of these states, you owe a yearly fee on the packaging that goes with it. Boxes, bags, film, foam, labels — all of it counts.
The fee is set by material. Easy-to-recycle materials cost less per pound than hard ones. So the way your packaging is designed changes the size of your bill.
By 2032, California requires 25% less single-use plastic packaging than companies used in 2023. There are smaller targets along the way. That is a design change, not paperwork.
You must send in the weight and material of your packaging, item by item. This is the part most companies cannot do. The fee is the easy half.
Four steps. We find out where you stand, prove the numbers, and hand you a plan.
We ask questions to find out where you stand today: what you sell, where you sell it, and what packaging data you already have. If a call is hard to schedule, we can send a short questionnaire instead. No cost either way.
We look at the data you actually have and build the reporting approach that fits it. The right approach is the one that you can defensibly back up based on existing data. No guessed fee numbers at this stage.
Now we put numbers on it. We estimate your fees using the approach from step 2. Then we audit the data to make sure it holds up, and weigh packaging where the records are missing. Last, we find the design changes that would cut your fees the most.
One plan that covers every state. It shows what is due and when. It ranks the fee-reduction ideas so you know what to do first. It covers California's 25% plastic cut. And options to improve how data is collected and stored, so next year is easier to report.
The audit in step 3 means we take a hard look at your packaging anyway. Every time we do that, we find cost savings that have nothing to do with compliance — lighter material, fewer parts, better pallet fit. Those go in the roadmap too, at no extra charge.
A short written method for each state, built around the data you actually have. It says what you will report, where the numbers come from, and why that method holds up.
A clean list of every packaging item, what it weighs, and what it's made of — checked, not guessed. Next to it, what we estimate you owe each year and the biggest chances to bring that down.
One plan across every state: dates, priorities, the plastic reduction target, and how to make next year's reporting easier. Plus any packaging cost savings we spotted along the way.
Pick the level of help you actually need. You can move up or down later.
Software will make this easier. It still can't tell you whether your numbers are right.
We spend our days in weights, materials, and specs. That is the language these laws are written in. It is why we can look at your data and tell whether it holds up, instead of just storing it.
The fee depends on the material. That means the right design change lowers what you pay every year, forever. A tool can show you the number. We can redesign the packaging that sets it.
Most vendors chase food and beauty brands. If you ship equipment, parts, chemicals, building products, etc. into any of these states, these laws still reach you — and most people never told you that. Industrial manufacturers are who we already serve.
We are building a tool to keep your packaging data current and make each year's reporting faster. It starts from data our engineers have already checked, so it is built on numbers you can defend. Ask us where it stands on the call.
If you put your brand on a product and sell it in one of these states, probably yes. That includes industrial and B2B companies. The call is free and we will tell you straight, even if the answer is no.
Late is much better than never. States can charge a penalty for each day you are late, so the cost grows while you wait. Registering now stops that clock. This is the most common situation we see.
Every state has an exemption for small companies, but the size cutoff is different in each one. You can be exempt in one state and owe in another. We check all seven for you on the first call.
No. We never submit to a state on your behalf. We build the approach, verify the data, and hand you a roadmap that says exactly what to report and when. Your team files it. The report goes in under your name, so it should be your hand that sends it.
It depends on how many packaging items you have. That is the honest answer. We give you a fixed price after the discovery call, so you never get a surprise invoice.
The reporting approach takes about a week. Verifying the data takes two to eight weeks depending on how many items you have and how much weighing is needed. The roadmap comes at the end.
Because a number built on data nobody has checked is a guess, and you would budget against it. We settle the method first, then verify the data, then give you a number you can defend.
Not to comply, with one exception: California requires 25% less single-use plastic by 2032, and that is a design change. Everywhere else it's a choice — but since the fee is set by material, it's usually a profitable one.
We ask a short set of questions about what you sell, where you sell it, and what packaging data you have. You leave knowing which states apply to you and what your next move is. If we can't help you, we'll say so.