A Greener Holiday Future: California Establishes Nation’s First Apparel and Textile Article EPR Program | Perkins Coie

As the holiday season begins, California is making a commitment to a greener future by introducing the nation's first extended producer responsibility (EPR) program for apparel and textiles.

California’s Responsible Textile Recovery Act of 2024 (SB 707), signed into law on September 28, 2024, is intended to divert postconsumer apparel and textile articles from landfills to be (1) reused, repaired, and recycled into secondary products or (2) disposed of in an environmentally safe manner.

Similar to other EPR programs, producers (i.e., manufacturers, brand owners or licensees, and importers/distributors, depending on the exact scenario) of “covered products” must form and join a producer responsibility organization (PRO) and abide by implementing regulations, including annual reporting of covered products that are sold, distributed for sale, imported for sale, or offered for sale in or into California.

The covered products under this EPR program include apparel and textile articles:

Producers are required to:

Additional requirements apply to retailers, importers, distributors, and online marketplaces.

Compliant producers will be listed publicly on CalRecycle’s website. Noncompliant producers’ products cannot be sold, distributed, offered for sale, or imported in or into California. In addition, civil penalties may be imposed in the order of $10,000 per day or, if the violation is intentional or knowing, $50,000 per day. CalRecycle is directed to review a number of factors when assessing the penalty.

Perkins Coie will continue to monitor and provide updates on this emerging EPR program. Please contact any of the authors of this Update for additional information.