A
- ASTM D6400 / D6868
- Industry test standards published by ASTM International that define compostability for plastics (D6400) and coated papers (D6868), based on measurable criteria like disintegration rate, biodegradation percentage, and absence of toxic residue. Most third-party compostability certifications, such as BPI and CMA, are built on these standards, though the certifying body still matters since the standards can be verified through different testing methods, including controlled laboratory conditions or field testing at real-world commercial composting facilities.
B
- Biodegradable Products Institute (BPI)
- A North American certification body that tests and certifies compostable products against the ASTM D6400/D6868 standards, scoped to industrial composting facilities. Some jurisdictions name BPI specifically as the only accepted certifier, meaning an ASTM-compliant product without BPI's mark would not satisfy that jurisdiction's requirement even though it meets the same underlying technical standard. Other jurisdictions decline to accept BPI on its own, since BPI's testing happens in a controlled lab setting and might not be representative of how a product performs at an actual composting facility.
- Bonus/malus
- The two-sided version of eco-modulation, a “bonus” (fee discount) for packaging that meets sustainability criteria, and a “malus” (fee surcharge) for packaging that doesn't, such as hard-to-recycle multi-material laminates. The mechanism pushes producers toward better packaging design without banning materials outright, and it's an area several EPR states are actively developing their own methodology for.
C
- CalRecycle
- California's state agency responsible for the state's overall recycling, composting, and waste diversion programs. Beyond publishing the SB 343 recyclability data, CalRecycle oversees the state's beverage container recycling program (CRV), landfill diversion targets, organics recycling mandates, and its designation of CAA as the PRO administering SB 54.
- Carbon black
- A pigment used to color plastic black that interferes with optical sorting equipment at MRFs, leading some jurisdictions to exclude black plastic from recyclability claims regardless of resin type. Because MRFs often can't sort it into the correct stream at all, many treat it as contamination rather than simply excluding it from labeling.
- Chasing arrows symbol
- The triangular recycling symbol printed on packaging, most often containing a resin code. A growing number of jurisdictions restrict its use to materials that meet the applicable recyclability standard, most notably California's SB 343, which is currently facing legal challenges over its enforcement timeline.
- Circular Action Alliance (CAA)
- The Producer Responsibility Organization designated to administer EPR programs in most of the states that have enacted packaging EPR laws. CAA was formed by a coalition of roughly 20 major food, beverage, and consumer goods producers in direct response to states passing EPR laws, giving producers a single organization for meeting multi-state compliance obligations rather than dealing with each state individually.
- Circularity
- The broader principle of keeping materials in use through reuse, recycling, or composting rather than disposal. It's a strategic framing used across sustainability programs rather than a specific legal requirement, though EPR and eco-modulation are two of the regulatory tools designed to advance it.
- Compost Manufacturing Alliance (CMA)
- A certification body for compostable products. CMA takes products that have already passed that lab testing against ASTM D6400/D6868 and puts them through field disintegration testing at real, operating commercial composting facilities, confirming they break down within the expected timeframe without contaminating the finished compost.
- Compostability
- A packaging property indicating a material will break down under composting conditions into non-toxic components. Certification standards differ in what conditions they test for and how they verify the result: BPI relies on controlled lab testing under industrial conditions, CMA adds field testing at real commercial composting facilities to confirm that lab result holds up in practice, and TÜV's OK Compost HOME tests under the low-temperature conditions of home composting. Jurisdictions might specify one or more certification bodies for a certain product to be deemed “compostable” and compliant.
- Cost recovery
- The practice of a producer recouping EPR fees or compliance costs, typically by building them into product pricing or accounting for them internally. It differs from cost allocation, which addresses how a producer's obligations are apportioned across its own business units or product lines.
- Covered Material Category (CMC)
- The standardized classification of a packaging material under a state's EPR law, used to determine which fee rate and compliance requirements apply. For example, rigid plastic packaging and flexible plastic film are typically treated as separate categories even when made from similar polymers, since each carries its own fee rate and reporting requirement.
D
- De minimis
- A threshold, typically based on revenue or packaging volume, below which a company is exempt from EPR obligations even if it otherwise sells covered products. Each state sets its own threshold independently, so a producer's exemption status can differ from one EPR program to the next even when selling the same volume of packaging nationally.
- Deposit Return Scheme (DRS)
- A system, often called a bottle bill, where consumers pay a small deposit on certain beverage containers at purchase and get it back upon returning the container for recycling. DRS programs exist in roughly ten US states and function separately from a state's broader EPR program, though the two can interact where the same container is subject to both a deposit and a packaging fee.
E
- Eco-modulation
- A pricing mechanism within EPR fee schedules that adjusts what a producer pays based on how recyclable, reusable, or sustainable their packaging is, rather than charging a flat rate by material type. It's increasingly built into state EPR fee methodologies as programs mature past simple weight-based fees.
- Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR)
- A regulatory framework that shifts the cost and responsibility for a product's end-of-life management, typically packaging waste, from municipalities onto the companies that produce or sell it. As of 2026, seven US states have enacted packaging EPR laws, and similar frameworks exist in more than 60 countries worldwide, including across the EU, Canada, Japan, and South Korea.
F
- Fee schedule
- The published rate table a PRO or state agency uses to calculate what a producer owes per unit of packaging material, based on material type and weight. Schedules are typically published annually and can shift meaningfully year over year as a PRO refines its cost model or a state's recycling infrastructure changes.
I
- Individual Source Reduction Plan (ISR Plan)
- A one-time plan required under SB 54 in which a producer documents its strategy for reducing packaging material use against set targets. It's a single submission rather than an ongoing report, though producers are expected to track progress against the plan's targets in their regular EPR reporting afterward.
M
- Materials Recovery Facility (MRF)
- The facility where collected recyclables are sorted and processed. Because MRFs vary widely in their sorting equipment, hauler contracts, and access to end markets for specific materials, what counts as recyclable in one city or county can differ from a neighboring one even under the same state law, which is why some regulations defer to the local MRF's accepted-materials list rather than defining recyclability themselves.
P
- Packaging and Packaging Waste Regulation (EU PPWR)
- The European Union's regulation setting packaging design, recyclability, and reduction requirements across member states. Unlike the patchwork of individual US state laws, PPWR applies uniformly once in force, giving multinational producers a single set of requirements to meet across the region.
- Per- and Polyfluoroalkyl Substances (PFAS)
- A class of synthetic chemicals used historically for grease-proofing in molded fiber food packaging, and also widely used in nonstick cookware, water-resistant textiles, firefighting foam, and various industrial processes, with increasing links to drinking water contamination. Because these compounds persist in the environment and the human body without breaking down, they're often called forever chemicals, and several states restrict PFAS in packaging.
- Plastic Pollution Prevention and Packaging Producer Responsibility Act (SB 54)
- California's EPR law for packaging and single-use plastic food service ware. It establishes the state's producer responsibility program, requires covered packaging to be recyclable or compostable by 2032, and sets escalating plastic source reduction targets of 10%, 20%, and 25% by 2027, 2030, and 2032 respectively.
- Post-Consumer Recycled Content (PCR)
- Material reclaimed from products that have already been used and discarded by consumers, then reprocessed into new packaging, as distinct from pre-consumer or post-industrial scrap generated during manufacturing. Several state EPR fee schedules and eco-modulation formulas offer reduced fees for packaging with a higher percentage of PCR content, making it one of the few design levers a producer can act on directly to lower its EPR exposure.
- Producer Responsibility Organization (PRO)
- An organization that producers join collectively to meet their EPR obligations. The PRO collects fees, distributes them to fund recycling infrastructure, and reports to the state on producers' behalf. In most EPR states, joining a PRO is the default path, though a handful of states allow a producer to submit its own individual compliance plan directly to the state instead.
R
- Recyclability
- Whether a material qualifies as recyclable, a determination that technically depends on what the local MRF actually accepts. MRFs vary in sorting equipment, hauler contracts, and access to end markets for specific materials, so the same physical material can be processed as recyclable in one MRF's service area and rejected in another's. States and localities could layer their own legal definitions on top of that reality, such as California's SB 343, which requires a material be collected by at least 60% of the state's curbside programs and have an established end market before it can be labeled recyclable, meaning a material can be physically accepted by a given MRF but still fail to meet the legal bar for the recyclability claim itself, or vice versa.
- Resin code
- The number (1 through 7) printed inside the chasing arrows symbol identifying the type of plastic resin used in a container, used by MRFs and regulators to determine sorting and recyclability. The code alone doesn't indicate a material is accepted in a given jurisdiction's recycling program, since acceptance depends on local MRF capability rather than the code itself.
S
- Source reduction
- Efforts to reduce the total amount of packaging material used per product, as opposed to improving how that material is recycled or disposed of. Regulators generally treat it as the most effective lever for reducing packaging's environmental footprint, since it removes material from the system before it ever becomes waste.
T
- Truth in Labeling for Recyclable Materials (SB 343)
- California's law restricting when packaging can display the chasing arrows symbol or make an unqualified recyclability claim. It sets a stricter standard than the general recycling symbol, requiring that a material be collected by at least 60% of California's curbside programs and have an established end market before it can be labeled recyclable in the state.
- TÜV OK Compost
- A certification mark issued by TÜV Austria, available separately as OK Compost INDUSTRIAL and OK Compost HOME. Of the compostability certifications, HOME is the most stringent standard, since it requires a product to fully disintegrate at the lower, less controlled temperatures of a backyard compost pile rather than the higher heat of an industrial facility. A product certified OK Compost HOME will generally also satisfy an industrial compostability requirement, but the reverse doesn't hold, so jurisdictions that specifically require home compostability won't accept an industrial-only certification.