New Jersey's Recycled Content Law: What Changes on January 18, 2027
Background
New Jersey requires minimum postconsumer recycled content (PCR) in plastic containers, glass containers, carryout bags, and trash bags sold in the state.
Minimums for plastic step up on January 18, 2027, and the five-year exemption for food packaging ends the same day.
Manufacturers must register and certify compliance with NJDEP every year. The 2026 filing window closes December 31, 2026.
Penalties run up to $25,000 per violation, per day, and a false certification is a crime.
New Jersey's Recycled Content Law (P.L.2021, c.391, codified at N.J.S.A. 13:1E-99.135 to 99.157) was signed on January 18, 2022. It was one of the first laws in the country to require recycled content across several packaging categories at once, and the first minimums took effect on January 18, 2024. Two years later, the second phase is about to arrive, and the compliance work has moved from theory to filings.
This post walks through what the law covers, who is responsible, what the numbers are now and what they become in January, and what to do before the end of the year.
What Does the Law Cover?
The law regulates containers and packaging, not the products inside them. Six categories are covered:
Rigid plastic containers: Plastic containers with a relatively inflexible shape that hold between eight fluid ounces and five gallons and keep their shape whether empty or full.
Plastic beverage containers: Bottles, cans, jars, cartons, or other plastic containers that are hermetically sealed and contain a beverage. The label, cap, and closure are not counted as part of the container.
Glass containers: Glass containers filled with a food or beverage.
Paper carryout bags: Paper bags a store gives or sells to a customer to carry goods out.
Plastic carryout bags: Plastic bags of any thickness a store gives or sells to a customer to carry goods out.
Plastic trash bags: Plastic bags at least 0.70 mils thick made to hold, store, or move material for disposal, composting, or recycling. This includes garbage bags, lawn and leaf bags, can liners, kitchen bags, and compactor bags.
The law also bans the sale of polystyrene loose fill packaging, better known as packing peanuts. That ban has been in effect since January 18, 2024.
Compostable material certified to ASTM D6400 or D6868 is not considered plastic under the law.
Who Is a "Manufacturer" Under the Law?
The obligated party is called the manufacturer, but the definition reaches well past the company running the molding machine. A manufacturer is:
The company that produces empty rigid plastic containers, paper or plastic carryout bags, or plastic trash bags sold in New Jersey.
The brand owner of a product sold in New Jersey in a rigid plastic container, plastic beverage container, or glass container. For filled containers, responsibility sits with the brand, not the container maker. A brand owner can hand responsibility to a licensee, but only if the licensee agrees and notifies NJDEP in writing.
The importer or distributor of a product in a covered container, if no producer or brand owner over whom New Jersey has jurisdiction exists.
One exclusion matters for food service and small retail. A business that produces, packages, and sells a product directly to consumers at a single physical location is not a manufacturer. The statute names grocery stores, restaurants, bars, cafeterias, cafés, food trucks, and food carts as examples.
What Are the PCR Minimums?
The law measures compliance as an average across a manufacturer's products, not container by container. Averages can be calculated across an entire product line or across sub-lines, as long as every covered product is included somewhere. Manufacturers must use New Jersey-specific sales data if it exists. If they can show NJDEP that state data is not available or feasible to generate, they may use national data prorated to New Jersey by market share or population, with the method documented in their annual report.
Here are the minimums in effect today (since January 18, 2024) and the minimums that take effect on January 18, 2027.
| Category | Since Jan 18, 2024 | From Jan 18, 2027 | Long-term schedule |
|---|---|---|---|
| Rigid plastic containers | 10% | 20% | Up 10 points every three years until 50% (reached January 2036) |
| Plastic beverage containers | 15% | 20% | Up 5 points every three years until 50%; hot-fill containers capped at 30% |
| Glass containers | 35% | 35% | No scheduled increase. Drops to 25% if at least half the recycled content is mixed-color cullet |
| Paper carryout bags | 40% | 40% | No scheduled increase. Bags holding eight pounds or less need 20% |
| Plastic carryout bags | 20% | 40% | No further scheduled increase |
| Plastic trash bags, 0.70 to 0.80 mils | 5% | 10% | No further scheduled increase |
| Plastic trash bags, 0.80 to 1.00 mils | 10% | 20% | No further scheduled increase |
| Plastic trash bags, 1.00 mils and up | 20% | 40% | No further scheduled increase |
NJDEP has authority under the statute to adjust any of these percentages by rule for a limited period, based on factors like recycled material supply, recycling rates, and processing capacity. We are not aware of any adjustment in effect, but check NJDEP's recycled content page before relying on a number.
What Is Exempt?
The exemptions are narrow and most of them apply to only one category. This is where we see companies make mistakes.
Rigid plastic containers only. A rigid plastic container is exempt if it:
Is a plastic beverage container (those follow their own rule above).
Travels with a product that is shipped out of New Jersey.
Contains drugs, dietary supplements, medical devices, or cosmetics as defined in the federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act.
Contains toxic or hazardous products regulated under FIFRA, the federal pesticide law.
Is made for shipping hazardous materials and is subject to specified federal or UN packaging rules.
Is a refillable container routinely returned to the manufacturer and refilled with the same product, or a reusable container that consumers routinely reuse to store the original product.
These exemptions do not extend to glass, paper bags, plastic bags, or trash bags. A cosmetic sold in a glass jar is a covered glass container at 35%.
Plastic beverage containers. Refillable beverage containers of 150 fluid ounces or less that are routinely returned to the manufacturer, refilled, and resold are exempt.
Plastic trash bags. Bags made to hold hazardous waste or regulated medical waste are exempt.
Any package or container, permanently. Packaging for milk products, plant-based products with dairy names such as "milk," medical food, food for special dietary use, and infant formula is exempt with no end date.
Food packaging, ending January 18, 2027. Any package or container that contains food has been exempt for five years from the law's effective date. That exemption expires on January 18, 2027 unless NJDEP extends it, which the statute allows. Two points get missed here. First, the food exemption never covered plastic beverage containers or glass containers filled with a beverage, so beverage packaging has been in scope since 2024. Second, when the exemption ends, food packaging becomes subject to whatever minimum is in effect at that time, which will be the higher January 2027 number, not the 2024 number.
Can a Manufacturer Get a Waiver?
Yes, but the bar is high. NJDEP may grant a waiver if the manufacturer demonstrates, and NJDEP finds in writing, that it cannot meet the minimums for one of these reasons:
Meeting them would put the manufacturer out of compliance with FDA rules or another state or federal law.
It is not technologically feasible.
Recycled material is not adequately available or the supply has been substantially disrupted.
Another reason NJDEP establishes by rule or guidance.
The application must include documentation from a federal or state agency or a certified third-party expert, and there is a $1,000 fee, waived for manufacturers with gross revenue under $5 million. Waivers run at least two years and NJDEP publishes every waiver it grants. NJDEP's waiver form states that only registered manufacturers may apply, so registration comes first. NJDEP may also require a manufacturer with a waiver, or one relying on the temporary food exemption, to submit an alternative compliance plan showing what it is doing to increase recycled content and reduce virgin material.
Registration, Certification, and Recordkeeping
Every manufacturer must register with NJDEP annually and pay a $1,000 registration fee. The fee is waived for manufacturers with gross revenue under $5 million, and a manufacturer that makes only exempt products registers once and pays no fee. Registration has been required since 2022.
Beginning in 2025, every manufacturer must also certify in writing, each year, whether its covered containers and bags are in compliance, exempt, or covered by a waiver. The certification must be signed by an authorized representative under penalty of perjury and must report the pounds of virgin material and the pounds of postconsumer recycled material used. A manufacturer claiming an exemption has to state the specific basis and provide proof.
According to NJDEP, registration and compliance certification are submitted together through the department's Online Business Portal during an annual window that runs from September 1 to December 31. For 2026, NJDEP has said the window opens on September 15. The registration lists the products sold in the current calendar year, and the compliance certification reports data for the previous calendar year. So the filing due December 31, 2026 registers 2026 products and certifies 2025 recycled content.
Manufacturers must keep records showing how they complied, or why they are exempt, and produce them within 30 days of an NJDEP request. NJDEP may audit any manufacturer at any time, may audit a random sample each year, and may charge the manufacturer for the audit. NJDEP also publishes an annual list of registered manufacturers and their compliance status.
Noncompliance Penalties
The enforcement tools in the statute are substantial:
Civil administrative penalties of $1,000 to $25,000 per violation. Each day is a separate violation.
For recycled content shortfalls specifically, a per-pound penalty on every pound of virgin material used where recycled material was required, in place of the flat range above.
Court-ordered civil penalties up to $50,000 per violation, again with each day counted separately.
Criminal liability for false statements. Knowingly, purposely, or recklessly making a false or misleading statement on a registration or certification is a crime of the third degree, with a fine up to $50,000 plus restitution.
Corrective action plans, public notice of noncompliance, and recovery of NJDEP's investigation and audit costs.
A manufacturer that fails to register gets a written warning first and has 90 days to register before penalties apply. That grace period applies only to registration, not to the recycled content minimums or certification.
Key Dates
| Date | What happens |
|---|---|
| January 18, 2022 | Law signed and effective |
| July 18, 2022 | Manufacturer registration begins |
| January 18, 2024 | First PCR minimums take effect; polystyrene loose fill ban begins |
| 2025 | First annual compliance certification |
| September 15, 2026 | NJDEP opens the 2026 registration and compliance reporting window |
| December 31, 2026 | 2026 registration and compliance certification due |
| January 18, 2027 | Plastic minimums step up; five-year food packaging exemption ends unless extended |
| January 18, 2030 and every three years after | Rigid plastic and plastic beverage container minimums step up again |
| January 18, 2036 | Rigid plastic containers reach 50% |
What Manufacturers Should Do Now
Confirm which containers and bags are covered: Map every SKU sold in New Jersey to one of the six categories, and check each claimed exemption against the category it actually applies to.
Confirm who the manufacturer is for each item: Empty packaging makers, brand owners of filled containers, and importers carry different obligations. If a licensee is taking responsibility, make sure the written notice to NJDEP exists.
Calculate your averages: Pull 2025 recycled content data by weight, decide whether you are reporting New Jersey-specific or prorated national data, and document the method.
Test your 2025 numbers against the 2027 minimums: If rigid plastic is at 12% and plastic carryout bags are at 25%, you meet today's rule and fail January's.
Plan for food packaging: If you have been relying on the food exemption, your containers move straight to the 2027 minimums on January 18, 2027. Secure recycled material and supplier specifications now.
File by December 31, 2026: Register, certify 2025 data, and document any exemption or waiver. If you need a waiver, register first, since NJDEP will not accept a waiver application from an unregistered manufacturer.
Watch NJDEP: The department can adjust percentages and extend the food exemption by rule. Check the recycled content page before every filing.
Get Ahead of the January Deadline With Snaplinc
New Jersey's law rewards companies that know their packaging data and punishes companies that guess. The averaging rules, the category-specific exemptions, and the two-year gap between the registration and the data it certifies all create room for error, and the penalty for a wrong certification is not administrative.
Snaplinc helps manufacturers and brand owners confirm applicability, calculate recycled content averages, prepare NJDEP filings, and plan supply changes for the 2027 minimums. If you sell packaged goods or bags in New Jersey and are not sure where you stand, contact us for a 30-minute call with a compliance expert.