Circular Economy Materials & Packaging

5 Best Practices to Discover EPR Cost Savings in Your Packaging Data

Businesses are required in certain states to collect and report packaging data — so if your company must gather packaging data anyway, why not use it to reduce packaging waste (and EPR fees!)?

Sponsored Content | / This article is sponsored by Reverse Logistics Group | By Rebecca Schwartz Altholz | Published 2 months ago | About a 3 minute read

Image: Frimu Films

Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR) laws are an increasingly prevalent approach to addressing packaging waste. More than a compliance requirement, they present an opportunity for brands, manufacturers and producers to evaluate their packaging strategies and uncover significant cost savings — while simultaneously reducing waste.

With the first data-reporting deadlines under packaging EPR laws in the United States having just passed, some businesses are suffering "compliance anxiety" and worrying about how EPR costs will impact budgeting.

EPR laws enact fees on producers based on packaging sold in given jurisdictions, leaving some producers searching for ways to reduce fees. The more "sustainable" a company's packaging, the more likely that business will see lower EPR fees. Essentially, the policy of eco-modulation makes producers responsible for their own EPR fees by way of their packaging decisions.

Q: So, how can businesses take charge of their fees — and discover opportunities for reductions?

A: By transforming packaging data into actionable business intelligence.

Here are 5 best practices that leverage packaging data to find and optimize savings while meeting your EPR obligations.

1. Understand how EPR fees are calculated

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The foundation of discovering cost savings starts with understanding how EPR fees are calculated. Factors influencing fees include:

Material type and recyclability
Weight and volume of packaging
Recycled content in materials

Action step: Gather fee schedules from regions where your company has packaging EPR obligations.

2. Centralize your packaging data

Disorganized, siloed data makes EPR cost analysis inefficient and incomplete. Create centralized systems that consolidate data across your supply chain. You may want to develop a supplier interface for collecting and tracking data or you may choose to create a template. As you're gathering data, ensure it meets the requirements of EPR laws to be accurate and complete.

Action step: Collect data, centralize it and promote formatting standardizations across stakeholders.

3. Identify high-cost contributors

Not all products or packaging types contribute equally to EPR costs. Analyze your data to identify "high-cost contributors" such as:

Products with non-recyclable materials
Heavy or oversized packaging
Products with virgin materials

Action step: Pinpoint top contributing products, then take steps to reduce high-fee materials.

4. Build predictive fee models

Predictive analytics can uncover emerging cost-saving opportunities before fee invoices even arrive. By integrating current EPR fee structures, regions and packaging materials into your data model, you can:

Forecast future fee trends
Anticipate cost increases or decreases based on proposed material changes
Plan your long-term packaging sustainability strategy

Action Step: Designate a person or team to design functional models.

5. Automate data reporting

EPR compliance reporting can be time-consuming and error prone. Automation tools specific to packaging data can help streamline this process, ensuring accuracy and improving insights. Use software that can:

Auto-generate compliance reports for specific jurisdictions
Track packaging changes across multiple markets
Provide real-time fee impacts linked to design iterations

Action step: Develop "one click" reporting systems that will save countless staff hours.

Benefits beyond saving

Adopting eco-modulation best practices doesn’t just lower fees. It strengthens consumer trust, aligns your brand with sustainability values, and positions your business as a leader in the circular economy.

By thinking proactively, you can transform EPR compliance from a costly obligation into an opportunity for cost savings, reduced waste and stronger customer loyalty.

Interested in learning how RLG can support your business with packaging data management, EPR compliance and data collection/validation? There are over 58 million SKUs in our packaging database, thanks to our decades of experience working with top brands. We invite you to schedule a discovery call with RLG today.