Plastic producer registration and reporting

Producers of certain plastic items in Washington must register with us by April 1 of each year.

Products required to meet recycled-content minimums

  • Plastic trash bags
  • Plastic beverage bottles
  • Plastic bottles for household cleaning and personal care products

Learn more about covered products

Who is the producer?

Producers must take responsibility for all the requirements of the law for all brands that they own. This applies even if the product is manufactured by someone other than the brand owner, another person registers on their behalf, or if the producer owns brands under a different name. Every non-exempt covered product must have one designated producer.

Unless provided with evidence otherwise, we will assume the brand owner is the producer.

2022 annual fee calculation and billing

All covered producers are required to pay their share of administrative costs identified in the annual workload analysis. This includes the cost of rulemaking, which will be completed by Jan. 1, 2024.

The 2022 annual producer fee distribution calculation uses the program administration fee formula:

Program administration fee = agency workload cost x [(individual producer resin pounds)/ (Washington resin total pounds)]

The resin pounds represent the total plastic resin weight — not including from de minimis producers — submitted during registration for all categories.

We will continue to develop fee calculations for future years through rulemaking. Until the rule is adopted (anticipated in late 2023), a general order will be issued to all producers of covered products. The general order describes the fee calculation and requirements under state law. The general order will be attached to this year’s producer invoices.

Learn more about annual fees and penalties for 2023 by watching Part 5 of our recorded presentation series, Part 5: Annual fees and penalties.

Learn more about how to register for 2023 by watching Part 4 of our recorded presentation series: How to register.