Design Guide
What circular-economy law already requires you to design for — and what ignoring it will cost.
Every imperative below is pulled verbatim from enacted and proposed US bills — no opinion, no invented thresholds. Miss one and it shows up as a non-compliant SKU, a fee penalty, or a market you can no longer sell into. Derived from 80 bills across 13 states.
Flip any card (↻) to see the bills it’s sourced from — each opens the full bill detail.
Keep it in the loop
The R-ladder — choices that keep material circulating, highest-value first: reuse and repair down through recycling and composting.
Reuse & Refill
Shift to reusable / refillable formats
Design glass beverage containers for washing and refill cycles.
Applies to
Repairability & Durability
Design for repairability, spare-parts access, and longevity
Make replacement parts available to independent repair providers and owners.
Applies to
Source Reduction
Reduce packaging material per unit (lightweight, right-size)
Achieve source reduction targets for covered plastic packaging.
Applies to
Recycled Content
Incorporate post-consumer recycled content
Incorporate minimum postconsumer recycled content percentages.
Applies to
Design for Recycling
Design packaging to be recyclable in available systems
Ensure beverage containers are recyclable in certified recycling systems.
Applies to
Compostability
Use certified-compostable materials where specified
Make covered material compostable as alternative to recyclable.
Applies to
Material & disclosure
What a product is made of — and what you have to declare on it.
Material Restrictions
Avoid banned / restricted materials and formats
Eliminate or reduce problematic or unnecessary plastic packaging.
Applies to
Toxics Elimination
Eliminate restricted substances (PFAS, heavy metals, etc.)
Eliminate mercury from thermostat designs; transition to mercury-free alternatives.
Applies to
Labeling & Marking
Apply required recyclability / disposal labeling
Mark containers with refund value indicator per Section 14560 requirements.
Applies to
The full Design Guide
ProEvery lever, 3–6 canonical imperatives each, the concrete numeric targets (recycled-content %, dates), and the verbatim statutory language behind every line — print-ready and kept current as bills move. The teaser is the headline; this is the playbook.
Need this scoped to your own products and the states you sell in — your SKUs mapped to the exact imperatives and deadlines that hit them? That's built per engagement.
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