The act requires the MPCA to complete assessments to gather critical information about packaging and paper product introduction, use and reuse, and management in Minnesota that will inform the development of the EPR program statewide. The MPCA contracted with Eunomia Research & Consulting for this work.
Needs assessment
The needs assessment will include:
- an official baseline for program measures and outcomes – including proposals for statewide requirements
- recommendations on where investments should be made in collection, sorting, and end markets
- a recommended methodology for reimbursement rates for service providers
- an evaluation of environmental improvements and accountability
- an assessment of best practices for education and outreach
Dates and tasks:
- Feb.-May 2026: data collection
- Sept. 2026: presentation of the draft report to the Packaging EPR Advisory Board
- Sept.–Nov. 2026: public comment period (60 days) for draft report
Surveys will be open through May 8; contact MPCA with questions at packaging.mpca@state.mn.us.
- The survey for cities, towns, and townships is available online now. The survey will also be sent by email to a subset of municipalities across the state identified by counties. The MPCA will use the survey to gather data on collection services run by a municipality and the costs of those services along with costs to the municipality to run those services and performance data.
- For any facility participating in recycling collection and processing activities, please contact the MPCA for a unique link as this is a password-protected survey. The MPCA will use the survey to better understand how facilities are classified, what they are currently sorting, and what they could potentially be sorting in the future.
- The survey for counties has been sent to each Minnesota county SCORE contact; contact MPCA with questions. The MPCA will use this survey to gather data on service provisions by county, operational and performance data, and contractual agreements and cost data. Counties may be invited to participate in small group meetings and/or interviews as a follow-up to this survey.
- For the survey for haulers, contact the MPCA for a unique link as this is a password-protected survey. The MPCA will use the survey to gather data on costs and service provisions for single-family residential, multifamily households, and other covered entities such as schools and government buildings.
- For the survey for recyclers of covered materials that were collected in Minnesota and out-of-state markets that recycle in Minnesota, contact the MPCA for a unique link as this is a password-protected survey. The MPCA will use the survey to gather data on how covered materials are currently recycled in Minnesota, the quantity of materials recycled, and challenges with contamination at recycling markets.
Preliminary assessment
This report captures the current state of knowledge of understanding to be built upon. This preliminary assessment does not set the baseline and is a preliminary review of the recycling and composting system.
The preliminary assessment includes:
- an overview of the characteristics of recycling and composting programs in Minnesota
- an overview of existing infrastructure
- a summary of the amount and types of covered materials introduced by producers in the state, along with the tonnages collected for recycling in the state
- high-level insight into contractual arrangements for collection