The United States has no federal law on plastic packaging, so policy is being made state by state.
Seven states have passed packaging extended producer responsibility (EPR) laws requiring companies to fund recycling: Maine (2021), Oregon (2021), Colorado (2022), California (SB 54, 2022), Minnesota (2024), Maryland (2025) and Washington (2025). 2026 brings the first producer reporting and fee deadlines in California, Colorado, Oregon, Maryland, Minnesota and Washington. California's SB 1053 bans all plastic checkout bags from 1 January 2026, closing the loophole that allowed thicker 'reusable' plastic bags; paper bags must contain at least 40% recycled content and cost at least 10 cents. Around a dozen states and hundreds of cities have bag bans or fees.
The state-led approach matters because California alone is the world's fifth-largest economy, so its rules shape national packaging design.
Several states also have laws pre-empting local bans, and EPR programmes are only beginning to collect fees, so results are not yet available.