At a Glance
- AI is bringing order to EPR chaos by organizing packaging data and automating reporting.
- Smart analytics can reduce costs through eco-modulation insights and fee forecasting.
- Better data drives better packaging with tools that improve recyclability and regulatory readiness.
Extended producer responsibility (EPR) laws are expanding quickly, forcing packaging producers to track materials, manage reporting, and comply with evolving state regulations. But packaging data is often fragmented across suppliers and internal systems, making compliance complex and error-prone. Increasingly, companies are adopting AI-powered EPR tools to organize data, automate reporting, and reduce regulatory risk.
Jessie Schwartz, President of Strategic Packaging Partners, believes the EPR landscape is, in a word, a “mess.”
“Packaging data is not stored and traceable in the same way ingredient data is; it’s usually quite disorganized,” she says. “Most ERP systems don’t have a packaging module, so the data is on hard drives and with suppliers. Because packaging data is very incomplete, marrying specs and bills of materials (BoMs) and sales is difficult at best.”
Material recovery challenges
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EPRs are also causing material recovery facilities (MRFs) to face higher recovery targets across a broader range of packaging formats. “In many cases, facilities will be required to recover materials they have never processed before, and at mandated recovery rates,” comments Jagadeesh “JD” Ambati, Chief Strategy Officer, EverestLabs. “Even after EPR is live, covered material lists can be updated, meaning MRFs must adapt to recover newly added materials while meeting targeted recovery rates.”
Supply chain complexities also make the tracing of all products sold very difficult. “Regulations change so quickly [and] it’s very costly to have someone on staff to keep track of everything,” Schwartz adds.
AI and automated tools are helping packaging teams work smarter, not harder. There’s a variety of tools designed to make EPR tasks easier to manage, and that’s why they’re becoming the most viable path forward.
“Fee structure change? Update the background template, and all your future reports are compliant. Data all over the place? Use an LLM tool to organize it quickly, we’re talking 100x quicker than manually,” she says.
The following slideshow highlights five AI tools that are helping packaging teams streamline the EPR process.
