New Jersey’s Recycled Content Law: Compliance, Reporting, and Legal Stakes

New Jersey’s Postconsumer Recycled Content Law (PRCL) introduced mandatory, phased-in postconsumer recycled content (PRC) thresholds for multiple packaging types, backed by narrow exemptions and stringent waiver mechanisms. Now, our focus turns to how “manufacturers” must comply—even if they are not subject to the PRCL’s substantive requirements.

Registration and Penalties 
Manufacturers must register annually with the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection (NJDEP) between September 1 and December 31 and, unless an exemption applies, pay a $1,000 registration fee. Even manufacturers that produce only exempted containers or packages are required to register. Manufacturers that demonstrate that their gross revenues are less than $5 million are exempt from the registration fee, and manufacturers that produce or generate only products that are exempt from the PRCL are both exempt from the fee and only required to file only initial registration. For example, manufacturers that generate only packages or containers that contain food, which are exempt from the PRCL for five years, must register prior to the expiration of the exemption in order to avoid being subject to possible penalties.

Failure to register may result in a written warning for a first offense and administrative penalties for a second offense.

Compliance Reporting and Verification 
Starting September 1, 2025, manufacturers must submit annual compliance reports alongside their registration certifying whether or not its products comply with the PRCL or are otherwise exempt. Thus, beginning September 1, manufacturers will both register their regulated containers and packaging products for 2025 and simultaneously file compliance reports for products from 2024.

In their compliance reports, manufacturers must detail the amount of virgin plastic, glass, or paper in the product, as well as the amount of recycled material used in any products subject to the PRCL. In furtherance of these compliance requirements, the law requires manufacturers to maintain records demonstrating whether and how all of its products subject to the PRCL comply with the recycled content requirements. Manufacturers must report the amount of materials used, in pounds, and indicate whether its compliance data is state-specific or based on national data prorated to account for population or market share. National data may only be used if the manufacturer demonstrates that state-specific data is not feasible or available. NJDEP has developed guidance to national manufacturers with prorating their data in order to calculate the amount of virgin or recycled materials used in their products offered for sale in New Jersey.

Manufacturers are allowed to aggregate PRC content used for multiple brands within a single regulated category, such as multiple brands of glass containers, but may not combine product lines between two or more categories of regulated products. Manufacturers thus have to separately comply with the PRC requirements for, by way of example, both rigid plastic containers and plastic beverage containers, and a surplus of PRC in one category of products may not be used to cover a shortage in another category.

Federal Policy and the Path Ahead 
At present, no federal law imposes minimum PRC requirements across multiple packaging categories. The Break Free From Plastic Pollution Act, introduced in Congress in both 2021 and 2023, calls for graduated PRC requirements in single-use plastic products and beverage containers, requiring 50 percent recycled plastic by 2050. That bill also would require a nationwide carry-out bag fee of at least $0.10, place new air and water emissions standards on plastic facilities, and prohibit the discharge of plastic pellets and other pre-production plastic into waterways. If that legislation were to pass, state laws like New Jersey’s PRCL may face preemption issues; however, the current political environment makes any movement on the Break Free From Plastic Pollution Act unlikely.

Final Word 
NJDEP still plans to offer additional guidance for companies regarding the registration and compliance process. We will detail any additional rules or guidance on this blog.

NJDEP’s registration and compliance period runs from September 1 through December 31, 2025. If you have questions about your obligations, need assistance with registering or demonstrating compliance, or have other questions about how NJDEP is interpreting the PRCL, please contact Larry Silver at lsilver@lssh-law.com or Luke Dodge at ldodge@lssh-law.com today to schedule a consultation.

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