Key Deadline:

Reporting Window: Currently Open

Submission Deadline: April 1, 2026

New Requirement: Personal Care Products

For the first time, producers of plastic containers for household cleaning and personal care products must submit annual reports on recycled content. This reporting requirement is triggered because the statutory minimum for these categories took effect in 2025. You must now report on the resin sold into Washington during the 2025 calendar year to demonstrate compliance with this new standard.

Recycled Content Targets (PCR):

Based on the compliance timeline, personal care producers should be aware of the current active requirement and the future increases mandated by law:

Current Requirement (2025): Your packaging must meet a 15% minimum PCR content standard.

Future Increase (2028): The requirement will jump to 25%.

Long-Term Goal (2031): The standard increases significantly to 50%.

Action Required:

Register: Log in to the Waste Reduction Portal.

Report: Submit your data for the 2025 calendar year, ensuring you account for the 15% PCR requirement if you are in the personal care sector.

Verify: Ensure that even if you are a de minimis producer, you complete the annual registration as required by law.

Failure to register and report by April 1, 2026, may result in non-compliance penalties. We recommend gathering your 2025 resin weight and supplier certifications immediately to meet the deadline.

The post Washington State Update: Mandatory PCR Reporting Begins for Personal Care Products appeared first on Focal Point.

What’s New in this Update?

For the first time, the list includes published recycling rates by CMC, a requirement under PRC section 42061(b).

Why It Matters:

• Defines Compliance: The list sets CalRecycle’s official determinations on which material categories meet the criteria for recyclability and compostability.
• Labeling Impact: These determinations directly influence your eligibility to use “recyclable” or “compostable” labels pursuant to PRC sections 42061(c) and (d).

The updated CMC list and guidance on categorization on the CalRecycle SB 54 Covered Material Categories can be found on the webpage. It’s time to check your product classifications against the new rates. Please contact us if you have any questions regarding this update.

The post SB 54 Update: CalRecycle Releases Updated CMC List & First-Ever Recycling Rates appeared first on Focal Point.

However, both small beauty brands and multinational cosmetic corporations are rethinking their packaging models to consider more eco-friendly options in order to reduce their environmental footprints. A post published by Cosmetics Design USA states that Veolia, a world leader in waste management, is teaming up with Unilever to take a leadership stance in defining responsible packaging initiatives for future generations. Recyclables are only recycled if they are deemed as useful materials for future use. Thus, Unilever not only aims to use plastic packaging that is made of fully recyclable materials, but to incorporate 25% of recycled material into its packaging by 2025. Unilever and Veolia plan to start their collaboration by collecting materials from India and Indonesia.

The Terracycle Zero Waste Box

Although the spotlight is on eco-friendly cosmetic packaging, these changes can’t happen overnight. According to Cosmetics Design USA, TerraCycle has taken a different approach towards diverting from filling landfills with post-consumer waste. RecycleSmart has teamed up with Terracycle to introduce waste collection boxes, called the Terracycle Zero Waste Box, designed to recycle anything.

How does it work? A customer will first select a waste stream that they would like to recycle. The waste streams span a large variety of household items such as jewellery, luggage bags, garden products, and health care packaging. Once the waste stream is chosen online, the boxes can be ordered and delivered to the customer’s house to be filled up. Once the boxes are full, the customer ships them back to Terracycle, where the product constituents are sorted into metals, plastics, organics, fibers, fabrics, glass, e-waste, cigarette waste, and latex paints. Once sorted, the products are repurposed into creative products instead of being sent to landfill.

It is evident that many companies are developing various approaches to tackle the environmental issues that threaten society, and consumers these days are expecting no less.

For more information, please contact Focal Point Research Inc.  We are leading North American Regulatory and New Product Consultants for Medical Devices, Natural Health Products, OTC Drugs, Cosmetics, and other consumer products regulated by Health Canada and the U.S. FDA.

The post Recyclable Cosmetic Packaging – A Step Closer to an Eco-Friendly World appeared first on Focal Point.