Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR) Policy

Not your typical conference! Each session builds on the last, so plan to clear your calendar to dive in fully. You’ll spend most of your time in a track cohort guided by a facilitator and topic experts, in search of new connections and ideas. Art, music, great food, and joyful moments abound and weave themselves throughout the experience. Along the way, you’ll connect with other topic tracks because we believe that great things can happen when really different people convene in thoughtful ways. Learn more about See Change and the other topic tracks here.

OPLN’s 2026–2027 EPR Launchpad: Harmonizing Packaging Policy in America

The 2026–2027 EPR Launchpad is a high-impact gathering designed to unite states that have passed EPR with those beginning the journey, as well as those on the brink, creating a shared space for collaboration, learning, and acceleration. Set in Burlington, Vermont, this event offers a powerful environment to reflect on lessons learned and chart the course forward.

Objectives

• Facilitate learning between policymakers, packaging value chain participants, NGOs, and EPR experts to share insights, challenges, and strategies across varying stages of EPR legislation and implementation.

• Build actionable understanding of system design and readiness, including data needs, compliance planning, and material recovery infrastructure between policymakers, implementers, NGOs, and the value chain.

• Strengthen collaboration between states with passed EPR laws and those exploring and implementing the current policy.

• Focus on lessons learned from bills already passed in 7 US States

Topic Focus

The OPLN 2026–2027 EPR Launchpad at See Change is designed to spark solution-oriented dialogue among legislators, implementers, and industry and NGO stakeholders who are navigating various stages of extended producer responsibility (EPR) and circular economy policy.

This lab centers on candid, cross-sector exchange about the challenges of drafting, passing, and implementing circular policy. Participants will explore legislative strategy, system readiness, data collection, funding mechanisms, stakeholder alignment, and infrastructure hurdles—drawing on insights from both pioneering and emerging EPR states.

By pairing jurisdictions with passed laws alongside those in pre-legislative or exploratory phases, this space fosters unlikely yet valuable connections. Participants will compare policy elements, unpack lessons learned from needs assessments, and interrogate key implementation questions, such as producer compliance models, fee modulation, and MRF capacity.

Lab Output:

This session will produce a U.S. EPR Mapping Exercise—a foundational resource titled Demystifying EPR: The Road to Harmonization. The output will catalog core EPR pain points, capturing friction across stakeholder groups—including local and federal governments, industry, environmental advocates, and PROs. This practical tool will help educate lawmakers and support a more coordinated, informed path toward national alignment.

Is This Track Right For You?

This track is intended for two key groups:

1. EPR Policy Designers and Implementers

This includes those actively involved in shaping and enforcing packaging EPR systems, such as:

• U.S. state legislators

• Federal policy leaders

• State regulators

• Producer Responsibility Organizations (PROs)

2. EPR Policy Practitioners and Stakeholders

This includes those directly affected by and responding to new EPR requirements, such as:

• Brands and producers

• Alternative material innovators

• Waste management and MRF operators

• Industry trade associations

• Consumer advocacy groups

• NGOs

• Circular economy and EPR policy experts

Still have questions? Check out the FAQs to learn about hotels, parking, meals, and other logistics.