As Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR) regulations begin to take effect, companies must prepare for more stringent packaging reporting requirements and face potential penalties of up to $50,000 per day for noncompliance.

These regulations – which are already being implemented in Oregon, California, Minnesota, Maine, and Colorado – will require businesses to rethink packaging design.

To discuss this, we recently sat down with Emily Wynne, Sustainability Expert & Footprinting Co-Lead at Quantis.

While recyclability, reusability and compostability are some of the main ways to comply with packaging EPR regulations, robust data systems are going to play a key role as well.

“The data requirements that companies are going to be asked to align with and comply with are unlike anything that we’ve seen before. So really starting to get a handle on your data processes, data auditing and supplier engagement processes is going to be more crucial than ever before,” Wynne said.

Wynne touched on specific strategies for optimizing packaging materials. But, again, any strategies adopted will need to go hand-in-hand with data collection.

“I think we’ve seen a lot of work in light-weighting and mono-materialization. Obviously, working to more ‘sustainable’ materials will be critical and one of the key ways that companies can start to optimize,” Wynne said, while simultaneously emphasizing the importance of “getting those data collection processes in place to ensure that any material swaps or product design improvements are showing marked reductions in environmental impacts.”

You can check out the full video interview above.