packaging reduction and recycling, creating a producer responsibility program, granting rule-making authority, making an appropriation, and providing a penalty

Wisconsin Legislature: AB772: Bill Text

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AB772: Bill Text

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2025 - 2026 LEGISLATURE
LRB-5188/1
ZDW:cjs
2025 ASSEMBLY BILL 772
December 17, 2025 - Introduced by Representatives
Snodgrass
,
Palmeri
,
Miresse
,
Arney
,
Clancy
,
DeSmidt
,
Fitzgerald
,
Joers
,
Madison
,
Moore Omokunde
,
Prado
,
Sinicki
,
Subeck
and
Udell
, cosponsored by Senators
Larson
and
Carpenter
. Referred to Committee on Environment.
AB772,1,4
1
An Act

to create
20.370 (6) (pr), 25.46 (1) (pr) and 287.30 of the statutes;
2
relating to:
packaging reduction and recycling, creating a producer
3
responsibility program, granting rule-making authority, making an
4
appropriation, and providing a penalty.
Analysis by the Legislative Reference Bureau
This bill creates a packaging reduction and recycling program administered by the Department of Natural Resources.
Under the bill, DNR must enter into a contract with a nonprofit organization to serve as a packaging reduction organization (PRO). The PRO must implement a producer responsibility program (program) to reduce packaging and to assess and collect information and payments from producers to pay for the development of packaging reduction programs. DNR must also issue a request for proposals to conduct a statewide packaging reduction, reuse, and recycling needs assessment to identify barriers and opportunities for reducing, reusing, and recycling packaging materials. Subsequent assessments must be conducted at five-year intervals.
The bill provides that, beginning 12 months after the selection of the PRO, a producer may not sell, offer for sale, or distribute into this state a product contained, protected, delivered, presented, or distributed in packaging unless the producer is registered with the PRO and complying with the requirements of the program. A producer must also annually report to the PRO the total amount of each type of packaging material sold, offered for sale, or distributed for sale into the state by the producer and other information required by the PRO. The bill requires producers to meet specified packaging recycling rates over time, with the ultimate target of 70 percent of packaging being recycled within 12 years of the establishment of the program. The bill also prohibits packaging that is made from or contains specified materials or toxic substances.
DNR must provide an annual grant, from the environmental fund, to the PRO to administer the program. The PRO must 1) register all producers, 2) collect and compile data from producers, 3) collect payments from producers, 4) distribute funds to local units of government and private companies, 5) make recommendations to DNR regarding investments toward packaging reduction, reuse, and recycling, 6) offer technical support to producers, 7) report noncompliant producers, 8) issue an annual report on compliance with the program, and 9) hold public hearings every year to report on implementation of the program and seek public input on improving compliance.
DNR must promulgate rules to administer the packaging reduction and recycling program, including rules to establish fees, to be paid by producers, for specified packaging material types. The fees must be sufficient to cover the cost of 1) collecting, transporting, and managing each type of packaging material once discarded, 2) costs incurred by DNR to administer the packaging reduction and recycling program, 3) costs incurred by the PRO to administer the program, 4) costs associated with conducting recycling needs assessments, and 5) any other expenses DNR determines to be relevant. All payments of fees collected by the PRO must be transferred to DNR and deposited in the environmental fund.
Violations of the requirements of the packaging reduction and recycling program are punishable by a forfeiture of up to $100,000 per day, per violation. Each noncompliant product line that is sold, offered for sale, or distributed to consumers via retail commerce in this state, including through an Internet transaction, is counted as a separate violation.
For further information see the state and local fiscal estimate, which will be printed as an appendix to this bill.
The people of the state of Wisconsin, represented in senate and assembly, do enact as follows:
AB772,1
1
Section

1
.
20.370 (6) (pr) of the statutes is created to read:
AB772,2,4
2
20.370
(6)
(pr)
Producer responsibility program.
From the environmental
3
fund, all moneys received under s. 287.30 (4) (b) 4. and (9) (b) to provide the grant
4
under s. 287.30 (9) (a) and the reimbursements under s. 287.30 (9) (c).
AB772,2
5
Section

2
.
25.46 (1) (pr) of the statutes is created to read:
AB772,3,1
1
25.46
(1)
(pr) The moneys received under s. 287.30 (4) (b) 4. and (9) (b).
AB772,3
2
Section

3
.
287.30 of the statutes is created to read:
AB772,3,4
3
287.30

Packaging reduction and recycling.

(1)

Definitions
. In this
4
section:
AB772,3,6
5
(a) “Beverage container” means a container used to contain drinks in liquid
6
form and intended for human consumption.
AB772,3,9
7
(b) “Bio-plastic” means plastic produced from biological sources, such as
8
vegetable fats and oils, polysaccharides, sugar, and proteins, or other materials that
9
are designed to be biodegradable.
AB772,3,12
10
(c) “Brand” means any mark, word, name, symbol, design, device, or graphical
11
element or a combination thereof, including a registered or unregistered
12
trademark, that identifies and distinguishes a product from other products.
AB772,3,13
13
(d) “Covered entity” means any of the following:
AB772,3,14
14
1. A single-family residence.
AB772,3,15
15
2. A multifamily residence.
AB772,3,18
16
3. A public school, as defined in s. 115.01 (1), a private school, as defined in s.
17
115.001 (3r), a charter school, as defined in s. 115.001 (1), or a tribal school, as
18
defined in s. 115.001 (15m).
AB772,3,20
19
4. A nonprofit corporation or institution such as a university, hospital, or
20
other nonprofit or institutional facility.
AB772,3,22
21
5. A for-profit business such as a retail store, restaurant, or other commercial
22
property.
AB772,3,24
23
6. A state agency, political subdivision, public entity, or other governmental
24
unit.
AB772,4,3
1
(e) “Discarded” means packaging material that has been used for its intended
2
purpose and is no longer needed by consumers, businesses, institutions, and other
3
users and may be managed through reuse, recycling, or disposal.
AB772,4,4
4
(f) “Disposal” means all of the following:
AB772,4,5
5
1. The landfilling or incineration of packaging material.
AB772,4,8
6
2. Energy recovery or energy generation by any means, including combustion,
7
pyrolysis, gasification, solvolysis, thermal desorption, waste-to-fuel, or any other
8
chemical conversion process or molecular conversion process.
AB772,4,9
9
3. The use of materials as landfill cover.
AB772,4,14
10
(g) “Environmental justice community” means any neighborhood or
11
community that is composed predominantly of persons of color or persons whose
12
income is below the poverty line and that is subject to a disproportionate burden of
13
environmental hazards, including landfills, incinerators, transfer stations, or
14
waste-to-energy facilities.
AB772,4,18
15
(h) “Local unit of government” means the governing body of any county, city,
16
village, or town and any sanitary district or other political subdivision of the state
17
authorized to plan or provide for waste management services for a specific
18
geographical area.
AB772,4,23
19
(i) “Packaging” means a discrete material or category of material, regardless
20
of recyclability, including paper, plastic, glass, metal, or multi-material that is used
21
for the containment, protection, handling, delivery, transport, distribution, or
22
presentation of another product that is sold, offered for sale, imported, or
23
distributed into this state. “Packaging” does not include any of the following:
AB772,5,2
24
1. Medical devices and packaging that are included with products regulated
1
as a drug, medical device, or dietary supplement by the federal food and drug
2
administration under
21 USC 32
1 et seq. or
21 CFR Part 11
1.
AB772,5,5
3
2. Animal biologics, including vaccines, bacterins, antisera, diagnostic kits,
4
and other products of biological origin, and other covered materials regulated by the
5
federal department of agriculture under
21 USC 151
to
159
.
AB772,5,6
6
3. Packaging regulated under
7 USC 136
et seq.
AB772,5,7
7
4. Beverage containers subject to a returnable container deposit.
AB772,5,11
8
(j) “Packaging reduction organization” means a nonprofit entity contracted by
9
the department to collect producer payment of fees, assist producers with
10
compliance with the requirements of this section, provide technical assistance to
11
producers, and implement the producer responsibility program.
AB772,5,16
12
(k) “Plastic” means a synthetic or semi-synthetic material made from linking
13
monomers derived from fossil fuel or biological sources through a chemical reaction
14
to create a polymer chain that can be molded, extruded, or otherwise shaped into
15
pellets, objects, films, or filaments, whether alone or in combination with chemical
16
additives, including plasticizers, stabilizers, colorants, or flame retardants.
AB772,5,24
17
(L) “Post-consumer recycled material” means new material produced using
18
material resulting from the recovery, separation, collection, and reprocessing of
19
material that would otherwise be disposed of or processed as waste and that was
20
originally sold for consumption. “Post-consumer recycled material” does not include
21
post-industrial material or pre-consumer material, or material created by means of
22
advanced recycling, chemical recycling, combustion, gasification, incineration,
23
pyrolysis, solvolysis, thermal desorption, waste-to-energy, waste-to-fuel, or any
24
other chemical or molecular conversion process.
AB772,6,1
1
(m) “Producer” means all of the following:
AB772,6,4
2
1. A person that manufactures or uses in commercial enterprise a product
3
sold, offered for sale, contained, protected, delivered, presented, or distributed in or
4
using packaging into this state under the brand of the manufacturer.
AB772,6,8
5
2. A person that is not the manufacturer of a product but that is the owner or
6
licensee of a trademark, regardless of whether the trademark is registered, under
7
which a product is sold, offered for sale, contained, protected, delivered, presented,
8
or distributed in or using packaging.
AB772,6,11
9
3. A person that imports a product that is contained, protected, delivered, or
10
presented in packaging into the United States or this state for use in commercial
11
enterprise in this state.
AB772,6,13
12
4. A franchisor of a franchise located in this state, except that “producer” does
13
not include the franchisee operating that franchise.
AB772,6,17
14
(n) “Producer responsibility program” means the program implemented by
15
the packaging reduction organization, and overseen by the department, to reduce
16
packaging and to assess and collect information and payments from producers to
17
pay for the development of packaging reduction programs.
AB772,6,20
18
(o) “Product Line” means a group of related products all marketed under a
19
single brand name that is sold by the same producer to distinguish products from
20
each other for better usability for customers.
AB772,7,2
21
(p) “Recyclable” means a product or packaging material that can be sorted by
22
entities that process post-consumer materials created in the state, that has a
23
consistent regional market for purchase by end users in the production of new
1
products, and that can be recycled with minimal losses of material during
2
processing and manufacturing. “Recyclable” does not include any of the following:
AB772,7,6
3
1. Material processed through advanced recycling, chemical recycling,
4
combustion, gasification, incineration, pyrolysis, solvolysis, thermal desorption,
5
waste-to-energy, waste-to-fuel, or any other chemical or molecular conversion
6
process.

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