Advisory · For Brands
Every packaging EPR program has to answer two questions. Most brands only answer the first.
Filing keeps you compliant. Forecasting, reducing and governing the cost is what keeps it from landing on the P&L as a surprise each January.
The foundation · Compliance reporting
Are we compliant?
- Packaging data from bills of materials and supply partners
- SKU components mapped to each state's covered material definitions
- State-by-state tonnage and, for California, plastic component counts
- Registration and filings with the Circular Action Alliance
- Invoices received and paid
The value layer · Decision frameworks
What does it cost, and how do we decide?
- Item-level fee models against current and forecast schedules
- Reserve methodology with low and high ranges
- Margin and pricing impact by SKU and state
- Decision support for packaging changes in flight
- A three-year view of the EPR cash cycle
What we do
Compile it. Forecast it. Reduce it. Govern it.
We determine which items you are obligated for in each state, build the packaging profile component by component, and prepare and submit defensible supply reports. Weights are sourced from plant weighings, vendor specs and teardowns, each tiered by confidence and documented for the next cycle.
Fee schedules are rarely published beyond the current year. We model three to five years out from both sides of the rate: the state program budgets that set total cost, and the tonnage all producers report, which spreads it. Then we apply your own volume plans and carry the result into reserves, budgets and pricing as a low and high range with every assumption written down.
Before you file, we audit the supply report for classification errors, missed exclusions and formula breaks that inflate the invoice. Before you change packaging, we price the fee impact of the alternatives. Where state law allows, we assess whether meeting the obligation independently, outside the producer responsibility organization, costs less.
Govern it
Annual obligations climb as fees per pound rise and more states come online. We give EPR a standing home: an executive owner, clear roles for supply chain, regulatory and finance, a calendar that runs from May filing to January invoice, and a fee check on every packaging change before it is approved.
How we work
From no data to a forecasted invoice calendar in five steps.
- 01
Scope and classify
Narrow sales data to obligated items, and document what is out of scope and why.
- 02
Build the packaging profile
Break each item into components and map them to every state's categories.
- 03
Integrate specifications
Weights from plant weighings, vendor specs and teardowns, each tiered by confidence.
- 04
Model and forecast fees
Published schedules where they exist; low and high forecasts where they do not.
- 05
Calendarize and plan
Deadlines, invoices and payment windows in one calendar, plus what comes next.
Ways to start
Two defined first engagements.
EPR Stand-Up
Registration through filed supply reports and a reserve-ready fee forecast.
Discuss a buildPre-submission audit
An independent review of your supply report before it is filed, with every change documented against the statute and program guidance.
Discuss an auditFor investors and lenders: EPR exposure in diligence, portfolio-wide fee forecasts, and post-close compliance for acquired brands.
Transaction support