Two questions get called the B2B question and they have different answers. This page separates them, gives each enacted state’s position on B2B and transport packaging, and answers whether a company that sells empty packaging to a filler is a producer.
This page is free to read and updated weekly, and the fee calculator needs a free EPR Atlas account.
Last updated October 25, 2026.
Whether B2B packaging is excluded is a scope question, separate from who the producer is.
The first test is whether the packaging is a covered material at all, and the B2B and transport exclusions are part of it, along with the categorical carve-outs for medical, pharmaceutical, and hazardous packaging. If the packaging is out of scope, the other two tests do not arise.
The second test is who the producer is, under a statutory cascade that stops at the first tier that applies. The familiar five-tier shape, manufacturer then licensee then brand owner then importer then first distributor, is only the Washington, Maryland, Minnesota, and Maine shape. Colorado's and Oregon's statutes run three tiers, own-brand or unbranded manufacturer, licensee, U.S. importer, and both states reach the brand owner by rule (Colorado's order of obligation, 6 CCR 1007-2 Part 1, s18.2.2(A), puts the brand owner directing or performing the manufacturing of the packaging first), while California puts a manufacturer that owns or is the licensee of the brand in tier 1. This is worked through state by state on Am I an Obligated Producer?
The third test is whether you are above the threshold, which has its own numbers, logic, and page: de minimis thresholds by state.
Run them in that order and per state. A company can be the producer of packaging that is out of scope, and out of scope in one state for the same item it must report in another.
They have different answers and are decided by different provisions.
The first is asked by a converter, bottle maker, or carton supplier that sells empty packaging to another company that fills it and sells it on. The question is whether empty packaging is a covered material in the seller's hands at all, and the answer is generally no, for reasons unrelated to the customer being a business.
The second is asked by a company whose finished packaged product only ever goes to business customers, and here the state rules are more varied than "B2B is excluded". Washington and Maryland reach it by definition, packaging being only what reaches a consumer for personal, noncommercial use, Colorado's exclusion turns on the word solely, and Maine counts business customers on municipal collection as consumers. Minnesota has only a narrow industrial-input exemption, Oregon has no general exclusion for transport packaging and prices some of it, and California has no general B2B exclusion.
Maryland and California both answer this expressly in regulation.
Maryland says it in the regulation. COMAR 26.04.14.02B(21)(c):
"Packaging" does not include packaging that is sold as a product that is empty at the time of sale.
California, which has no general B2B exemption, says it in regulation at 14 CCR 18980.1(a)(17)(B), and CAA's producer-definitions guidance quotes the text:
Empty packaging materials not yet used by a good are not "single-use packaging" or otherwise "covered material" under the Act, such that a person is not a producer merely because they manufacture, sell, offer for sale, or distribute such materials.
Circular Action Alliance, Covered Materials and Producer Definitions: California, revised May 2026, page 13. The passage is the text of 14 CCR 18980.1(a)(17)(B), which CAA's guidance reproduces. Maine reaches the same place by definition: 38 MRSA 2146(1)(I) defines packaging material by what leaves a point of sale with, or is received by, the consumer of the product.
If the empty-packaging supplier is outside scope in California, the position holds in the other six. The obligation attaches when the packaging is used by a good that is sold, and it attaches to the party the cascade names, which for an ordinary branded product is the brand owner.
The obligation can come back onto the supplier in the following cases.
Food serviceware is covered even when sold empty. Oregon's rule at OAR 340-090-0840 says food serviceware "is sold empty or unused to a retailer, a dine-in food establishment or a take-out food establishment, regardless of whether the item is used to prepackage food for resale, is filled on site for food ordered by a customer or is resold as is." A company selling empty cups, clamshells, or trays is in a different position from one selling empty cosmetic jars.
Outside California, packaging with no brand on it reaches the manufacturer of the item, which is the supplier only where it also makes or fills the item. Every state except California drafts its manufacturer tier narrowly enough to catch two things: goods sold under the manufacturer's own brand, and packaging that carries no brand identification at all. Those definitions name the person that manufactures the item, which for empty packaging sold to a filler is the filler (ORS 459A.866(1)(a)(A); Minn. Stat. 115A.1441 subd. 26(a)(1)(i)). In Colorado that is the statute's first tier (C.R.S. 25-17-703(30)(a)(I)), but Colorado's rule reaches that manufacturer only at the third step of its order of obligation, after the brand owner and licensee steps (6 CCR 1007-2 Part 1 s18.2.2(A)(3)). In California a good for which no brand can be designated under 14 CCR 18980.1.1(e) falls to the seller and distributor tier at PRC 42041(w)(3), and the rule first looks to any brand most prominently used with the initial sale or distribution of the goods. Outside California, unbranded and generic lines follow the factory unless an agreement that meets the formalities of Washington, Minnesota, Maine, or Maryland moves them (RCW 70A.208.020(29)(a)(vi)(A); Minn. Stat. 115A.1441 subd. 26(a)(6)(i); 38 MRSA 2146(1)(O); COMAR 26.04.14.02B(25)(p)).
Anything you sell under your own brand makes you the brand owner for that slice. A converter with a private-label or own-brand line is the producer for that line and a supplier for the rest.
Being out of scope does not make you free of the work. Suppliers are still likely to carry the data work wherever producers report, because a brand owner cannot file without component material, weight, and recyclability data it may not hold.
The table gives each state's position, with what it means for a company selling empty packaging into that state. The full wording for each is in the sections below.
| State | B2B and transport packaging | If you sell empty packaging |
|---|---|---|
| Oregon | Not excludedcurrent September 9, 2026 | Supplier is not the producer. Oregon has no brand-owner tier; ORS 459A.866(1)(a) runs own-brand manufacturer, licensee, importer, and OAR 340-090-0860(1)(a) reaches a brand owner that specifies its packaging at tier 1. |
| Colorado | Excluded, but only where used SOLELY B2Bcurrent September 9, 2026 | Supplier is not the producer. The statute runs three tiers with the importer last (C.R.S. 25-17-703(30)(a)), and CDPHE's rule sets a four-step order of obligation led by the brand owner directing or performing the manufacturing of the packaging (6 CCR 1007-2 Part 1, s18.2.2(A)). |
| California | No general B2B exemptioncurrent September 9, 2026 | Expressly not the producer under 14 CCR 18980.1(a)(17)(B). Note tier 1 here reaches a manufacturer that owns OR is the exclusive licensee of the brand, PRC 42041(w)(1) and (2), which pulls in licensees the other six place at tier 2, while goods for which no brand can be designated under 14 CCR 18980.1.1(e) fall to the seller tier at (w)(3). |
| Maine | Narrower than a B2B exclusion: business customers on municipal collection count as consumerscurrent September 9, 2026 | Supplier is not the producer. 38 MRSA 2146(1)(I) defines packaging material by what leaves a point of sale with or is received by the consumer, so empties sold as product are not packaging material in the seller's hands. Full five-tier cascade; one of four states where a written assignment can move the duty. |
| Minnesota | Only a narrow industrial-input exemption, three conditions, all requiredcurrent September 9, 2026 | Supplier is not the producer. Full five-tier cascade under Minn. Stat. 115A.1441 subd. 26, and one of four states where a written assignment can move the obligation, subd. 26(a)(6)(i). |
| Maryland | Out by definition: packaging means what reaches a consumer for personal, noncommercial usecurrent October 11, 2026 | Expressly not the producer. COMAR 26.04.14.02B(21)(c): packaging does not include packaging that is sold as a product that is empty at the time of sale. Also one of four states where a written certification can move the obligation, (25)(p). |
| Washington | Out by definition: packaging means what reaches a consumer for personal, noncommercial usecurrent October 11, 2026 | Supplier is not the producer. RCW 70A.208.020(29)(a)(i) puts the manufacturer first but reaches it only for own-brand and unbranded goods; brand owner is tier 3. One of four states where a written assignment can move the duty, (29)(a)(vi)(A). |
The statement that B2B transport packaging is excluded is wrong in Oregon in a way that costs money.
Oregon has no general exclusion for transport packaging. The CAA Oregon 2026 fee schedule carries a line for "Corrugated Cardboard (Tertiary/transport) non-consumer" at 0.0 cents per pound, listed on the uniform statewide collection list, so it is in scope and reportable at a zero rate. It also carries "HDPE (#2)/LDPE (#4) (Pallet Wrap) non-consumer" at 34.0 cents per pound, against 43.0 for HDPE and LDPE flexible film. That is a discounted line, not an exclusion, and a producer who treats Oregon transport packaging as out will understate a real fee.
Zero rated still has to be reported. DEQ runs a passive claims approach for these two materials: to claim a share of the pool volume under the ORS 459A.869(13) private-recycling exemption you file no claim form, but gross volumes must reach CAA by the May 31 deadline. A company that hears "no fee" and stops collecting the data has no way to answer the same question in a state that does charge.
Who applies the wrap decides the answer. DEQ FAQ Q9 says distributor-applied pallet wrap is exempt only where that distributor is not itself the obligated producer under ORS 459A.866(1)(a) to (c). In 2026 the same roll of film is 34.0 cents or nothing depending on which party in the chain puts it on the pallet.
C.R.S. 25-17-703(25)(b) excludes packaging used solely in transportation or distribution to nonconsumers, and solely in business-to-business transactions where the covered material is not intended to be distributed to the end consumer. Dropping that word changes the answer.
Take a corrugated shipper used for retail distribution and also for direct-to-consumer e-commerce. It is not used solely for either. The statute does not say whether "solely" is tested per unit or per packaging type, and CAA's Colorado guidance treats packaging used to ship to a consumer as covered, so a mixed-channel producer should treat at least the units shipped to consumers as covered. Colorado's consumer is anyone at a covered entity, which includes residences and the nonresidential locations in the final plan (CRS 25-17-703(10) and (12)).
Colorado also excludes packaging material used exclusively in industrial or manufacturing processes at (13)(b)(VI), which turns on the word exclusively in the same way.
In California, Colorado, and Oregon a contract moves the cost of an EPR obligation but not the producer duty, because their producer definitions contain no assignment provision, although Oregon relieves a producer of membership fees for any covered product that another person has registered with a producer responsibility organization as the producer responsible for (ORS 459A.869(3), (4)). In Washington, Minnesota, Maine, and Maryland a contract can move the duty itself, but only if the parties put the statutory formalities in place.
In Washington, RCW 70A.208.020(29)(a)(vi)(A) makes another person the producer where that person "has mutually signed an agreement with a producer ... that contractually assigns responsibility to the person as the producer, and the person has joined a registered producer responsibility organization as the responsible producer". The original producer "must provide written certification of that contractual agreement to the producer responsibility organization". Two categories cannot be the assignee: a person producing an agricultural commodity under another manufacturer's brand, and a distributor of a beverage sold in a beverage container.
In Minnesota, Minn. Stat. 115A.1441 subd. 26(a)(6)(i) is the Washington provision almost word for word but has no barred-assignee list: another person is the producer "where another person has mutually signed an agreement with a producer ... that contractually assigns responsibility to the person as the producer, and the person has joined a registered producer responsibility organization as the responsible producer", with the original producer required to "provide written certification of that contractual agreement to the producer responsibility organization". The Minnesota Office of the Revisor of Statutes places this subdivision in section 115A.1441; CAA's Minnesota producer-definitions guidance quotes the same words but labels the section 115A.144.
In Maine, 38 MRSA 2146 carries the same structure. A signed agreement assigning the responsibility to act as producer works where the assignee "registers with the stewardship organization to participate in the program under this section on behalf of the person and written certification of the assignment of responsibility is provided to the stewardship organization". Maine's stewardship organization RFP drew no bids, so there is currently no organization to register with or certify to.
In Maryland, COMAR 26.04.14.02B(25)(p) recognizes a written certification transferring producer responsibility.
In Washington, Minnesota, and Maine the mechanism needs a signed agreement (Washington and Minnesota require it to be mutually signed), the assignee registering with the PRO or stewardship organization as the responsible producer, and written certification going to that organization. Maryland asks for two of the three: the executed agreement and the written certification, with nothing on its face requiring the assignee to register as the responsible producer. Maryland is also the one that removes rather than transfers, since (25)(p) is drafted as an exclusion from the definition of producer, so it takes the first entity out instead of putting the assignee in. A bare indemnity in a supply agreement does none of this and moves nothing anywhere.
In California, Colorado, and Oregon a commercial allocation still decides who bears the cost and who supplies the data, but it does not decide who owes the duty to the state.
Position: Not excluded
Oregon does not exclude tertiary packaging as a class. Four separate subsections do the work and each is narrow: (D) rigid pallets used as the structural foundation for transporting goods lifted by a forklift, pallet jack, or similar device, (E) specialty packaging items used exclusively in industrial or manufacturing processes, (H) pallet wrap added by a person that is not the producer of the palletized covered products, and (J) any item not ultimately discarded inside the state. In the 2026 fee schedule, non-consumer tertiary corrugated is on the USCL at 0.0 c/lb and non-consumer pallet wrap is priced at 34.0 c/lb against 43.0 for HDPE and LDPE flexible film. Both are in scope and both must be reported. DEQ runs a passive claims approach for those two under the ORS 459A.869(13) private recycling exemption, which DEQ says is distinct from (J). To claim a share of the pool volume, a producer files no claim form with DEQ but must report gross volumes to CAA by the May 31 deadline (DEQ RMA Exemptions FAQ A10 and A13). DEQ FAQ Q9 says distributor-applied pallet wrap is exempt if that distributor is not the obligated producer for any of the packaging under ORS 459A.866(1)(a) to (c).
Where it comes from: ORS 459A.863(6)(b)(D) exempts rigid pallets; (6)(b)(H) reaches pallet wrap added by a non-producer; (6)(b)(J) covers items not ultimately discarded in Oregon. There is no general B2B exclusion.
If you sell empty packaging here: Supplier is not the producer. Oregon has no brand-owner tier; ORS 459A.866(1)(a) runs own-brand manufacturer, licensee, importer, and OAR 340-090-0860(1)(a) reaches a brand owner that specifies its packaging at tier 1.
Position: Excluded, but only where used SOLELY B2B
(25)(b)(I) excludes packaging materials used solely in transportation or distribution to nonconsumers, and (II) excludes packaging materials used solely in business-to-business transactions where a covered material is not intended to be distributed to the end consumer. (13)(b)(VI) excludes packaging material used exclusively in industrial or manufacturing processes. A consumer is any person who purchases or receives covered materials in the state and is located at a covered entity, which includes residences and the nonresidential locations identified in the final plan (CRS 25-17-703(10) and (12)). The statute does not say whether "solely" applies to each unit or to a packaging type as a whole. CAA's Colorado guidance treats transport packaging shipped to a retailer as exempt business-to-business material and treats packaging used to ship to a consumer as covered. A corrugated shipper used both for retail distribution and for direct-to-consumer e-commerce is likely to be covered at least for the units shipped to consumers.
Where it comes from: C.R.S. 25-17-703(25)(b)(I) and (II) exclude packaging used solely in transportation or distribution to nonconsumers and solely in business-to-business transactions where the covered material is not intended to reach the end consumer. (13)(b)(VI) excludes material used exclusively in industrial or manufacturing processes.
If you sell empty packaging here: Supplier is not the producer. The statute runs three tiers with the importer last (C.R.S. 25-17-703(30)(a)), and CDPHE's rule sets a four-step order of obligation led by the brand owner directing or performing the manufacturing of the packaging (6 CCR 1007-2 Part 1, s18.2.2(A)).
Position: No general B2B exemption
California does not provide a general B2B exemption. SB 54 covers primary, secondary, and tertiary packaging placed on the CA market regardless of whether the sale is B2C or B2B. Producers selling exclusively to business customers are still subject to registration, reporting, and fee obligations. One adjacent relief is definitional: CAA's California guidance states that empty packaging materials not yet used by a good are not covered material, so a converter selling empties is not a producer.
Where it comes from: PRC 42041(w) defines the producer with no importer tier and an in-state test. Only narrow categorical exclusions apply, such as beverage containers under the CRV program.
If you sell empty packaging here: Expressly not the producer under 14 CCR 18980.1(a)(17)(B). Note tier 1 here reaches a manufacturer that owns OR is the exclusive licensee of the brand, PRC 42041(w)(1) and (2), which pulls in licensees the other six place at tier 2, while goods for which no brand can be designated under 14 CCR 18980.1.1(e) fall to the seller tier at (w)(3).
Position: Narrower than a B2B exclusion: business customers on municipal collection count as consumers
Maine's position changed in 2025. A “consumer” now includes a commercial business that uses or partners with a municipal or state waste management service, so packaging reaching such a business is in scope. The same definition leaves out a person that manufactures products where the packaging material for those products is managed, and its management costs are paid, by that person or by a producer, and the packaging material is “used solely for transportation of the products to persons that are not consumers” or is used for or generated by the person as part of the manufacturing process. There is no general B2B exclusion.
Where it comes from: 38 MRSA 2146(1)(C-1), added by PL 2025 c. 383: a consumer includes a commercial business that uses or partners with a municipal or state waste management service. The only carve-out is packaging on a manufacturer's own products, where the packaging is managed and the manufacturer or a producer pays for that management, and it is used solely for transportation to persons that are not consumers or is used for or generated by the manufacturer as part of the manufacturing process.
If you sell empty packaging here: Supplier is not the producer. 38 MRSA 2146(1)(I) defines packaging material by what leaves a point of sale with or is received by the consumer, so empties sold as product are not packaging material in the seller's hands. Full five-tier cascade; one of four states where a written assignment can move the duty.
Position: Only a narrow industrial-input exemption, three conditions, all required
The exemption is much narrower than a general B2B exclusion. The exemption reaches covered materials that (i) a producer distributes to another producer, (ii) are then used to contain a product distributed to a commercial or business entity for the production of another product, and (iii) are not introduced to anyone other than that entity. All three conditions must hold, so this is an industrial-input exemption. A corrugated shipper carrying finished goods to a retailer fails the second condition, because the retailer does not use the goods to produce another product, so it is not exempt.
Where it comes from: Minn. Stat. 115A.1441 subd. 16(14) exempts covered materials that a producer distributes to another producer, that are then used to contain a product distributed to a business for the production of another product, and that reach no one else. A shipper carrying finished goods to a retailer fails the second condition, and that alone defeats the exemption.
If you sell empty packaging here: Supplier is not the producer. Full five-tier cascade under Minn. Stat. 115A.1441 subd. 26, and one of four states where a written assignment can move the obligation, subd. 26(a)(6)(i).
Position: Out by definition: packaging means what reaches a consumer for personal, noncommercial use
The main test is the packaging definition itself, and it carries an express empty-packaging carve-out. .02B(21)(a): packaging is material that facilitates delivery of a product 'sold or supplied with the product to the consumer for personal, noncommercial use'; (21)(b)(i) includes 'primary, secondary, and tertiary packaging intended for the consumer market'; and (21)(c): 'Packaging does not include packaging that is sold as a product that is empty at the time of sale.' So B2B packaging that is not sold or supplied with a product to a consumer for personal, noncommercial use is out because it is not packaging, although tertiary packaging intended for the consumer market is expressly included, and a converter selling empties is out by express text. A separate three-part exemption at .02B(16)(m) follows the Minnesota and Washington structure but drops their condition that the product go to a business for the production of another product, so it reaches any product distributed to an industrial, commercial, or institutional business and not introduced beyond the business that first received it, and unlike most of the Maryland list it is not limited to primary packaging.
Where it comes from: COMAR 26.04.14.02B(21)(a) defines packaging as material that facilitates delivery of a product sold or supplied with the product to the consumer for personal, noncommercial use, and (21)(b)(i) includes primary, secondary, and tertiary packaging intended for the consumer market. Transport packaging that never reaches a consumer is not packaging at all. The statutory deadline for Maryland's statewide list of covered materials recyclable or compostable through curbside programs is July 1, 2027 (Md. Envir. 9-2508(a)(1)).
If you sell empty packaging here: Expressly not the producer. COMAR 26.04.14.02B(21)(c): packaging does not include packaging that is sold as a product that is empty at the time of sale. Also one of four states where a written certification can move the obligation, (25)(p).
Position: Out by definition: packaging means what reaches a consumer for personal, noncommercial use
The main test is definitional. Packaging is material that 'is sold or supplied with the product to the consumer for personal, noncommercial use'. Transport and B2B packaging that never reaches a consumer for personal use is not packaging under the Act. The test is whether any of it is supplied to a consumer for personal, noncommercial use. A separate three-part industrial-input exemption is at sec. 102(19)(o) and mirrors Minnesota subd. 16(14): distributed producer to producer, then used to contain a product going to a commercial or business entity for the production of another product, and never introduced to anyone else. All three conditions required.
Where it comes from: RCW 70A.208.020(25)(a): packaging is material that is sold or supplied with the product to the consumer for personal, noncommercial use. There is no B2B exclusion because B2B transport packaging is not packaging under the definition, and exclusivity is not the test.
If you sell empty packaging here: Supplier is not the producer. RCW 70A.208.020(29)(a)(i) puts the manufacturer first but reaches it only for own-brand and unbranded goods; brand owner is tier 3. One of four states where a written assignment can move the duty, (29)(a)(vi)(A).
Run the three tests in order and per state. The scope screener applies all three tests in California, Colorado, and Oregon, applies the threshold and exclusion tests in Maryland, Minnesota, and Washington, reports Maine's program status, and gives the rule behind each answer. Reporting when state volumes cannot be measured directly has its own page: reporting volumes you cannot directly measure. For the producer cascade written out state by state see Am I an Obligated Producer?, for the thresholds see de minimis by state, and for what transport packaging costs where it is priced see fees by state.
Every state guide has the fee schedule where one has been published, registration deadlines, program plan status, eco-modulation detail, the statute and any implementing rule, and exemptions.