What the Home Furnishings Industry Needs to Know About EPR Compliance

On June 2, rePurpose Global joined the American Home Furnishings Alliance's 2026 Packaging Forum in Colfax, North Carolina. Furniture manufacturers, importers, retailers, logistics providers, and packaging suppliers spent the day on one question: what does EPR actually require of us, and how do we get there?

One thing came up early and stayed all day. Most companies in the home furnishings space feel behind on reporting. That feeling is nearly universal right now — and knowing that is actually useful.

You're Probably Not as Behind as You Think

We opened the session by asking the room: how many of you have already submitted your reports? How many are still working on them? How many are just starting to figure out what EPR means for your business?

The answers tracked what we hear across industries. EPR is newer to home furnishings than to some CPG categories, and most companies in this space are navigating it without dedicated sustainability or compliance teams. The whole field is early. Getting oriented now matters more than feeling caught up.

What EPR Is and Why It Applies to You

EPR shifts financial responsibility for packaging waste from municipalities to the producers who put that packaging on the market — manufacturers, importers, and retailers selling packaged goods into regulated states.

For home furnishings, that means the corrugated boxes, foam padding, stretch film, and plastic strapping used to ship sofas, beds, and dressers is now a compliance matter. If your products ship into Oregon, Colorado, California, Minnesota, Maryland, Washington, or Maine, you are likely a covered entity.

Seven states have active packaging EPR laws. Illinois, New Jersey, and New York are advancing legislation. The compliance obligations are live and expanding.

The Circular Action Alliance (CAA) manages compliance across most of these states, including registration, reporting infrastructure, and fee collection. For companies without large internal compliance teams, working through CAA is the most practical starting point.

The Deadlines You Need to Know

Supply reports were due May 31, 2026 across Oregon, Colorado, California, Minnesota, Maryland, and Washington. Maine's start-up report is expected in Q4 2026.

If you missed May 31, report as soon as possible. The consequences for not reporting compound quickly. Oregon penalties can reach $25,000 per day, and the state can restrict your product sales entirely.

California requires more than the annual supply report. SB 54 also requires a Baseline Producer Supply Report using 2023 data and, by August 1, 2026, an Individual Source Reduction Plan — a forward-looking commitment to reducing plastic packaging weight and component count through 2032.

What California's SB 54 Actually Requires

California has more compliance layers than any other state. SB 54 does not just ask you to report — it asks you to plan and commit to measurable reductions.

The collective target for the producer community is a 25% reduction in plastic covered material by weight and component count by 2032, against a 2023 baseline. Individual producers submit ISR (Individual Source Reduction) plans that contribute to that target. CAA aggregates those plans and adjusts fees through a bonus/malus system, in which producers who reduce ahead of schedule receive bonuses, and those who do not contribute get malus fees on top of base fees.

The illustrative fee schedule CAA published shows base fees ranging from a few cents per pound for paper and cardboard with plastic components up to $0.69 per pound for flexible PVC film in the high scenario. For a company shipping large items wrapped in stretch film or plastic strapping, those numbers belong in your budget conversation now.

The five approved reduction pathways are reuse/refill, elimination, material switching, right-sizing or lightweighting, and PCR content, which is capped at 8% of the total reduction target. Reductions made between 2013 and 2022 can also be reported for credit.

August 1 is the ISRP deadline.