Packaging EPR material categories: how to sort your packaging for CAA reports (2026)
A material category is a named bucket, such as "Corrugated Cardboard" or "PET (#1) - Bottles, Jugs, and Jars (Clear/Natural)", that each piece of your packaging is sorted into before you report its weight. The Circular Action Alliance (CAA) collects pounds per category, and in Oregon and Colorado fees are set per category. Each state has its own list: 62 categories in Oregon's 2027 fee schedule, 61 in Colorado's 2027 dues schedule, and 95 on CalRecycle's covered material categories list for California. The lists look alike but aren't the same, so one bottle can land in differently named categories in each state.
What a category is made of
Every list builds its categories the same way: a material class (paper, glass, metal, plastic and so on), then a material or resin (corrugated cardboard, PET #1, PP #5), then a form (bottles, jugs and jars; tubs; film; "other rigid items"). A few rules decide which piece goes where:
Each separable piece is sorted on its own. CAA's guidance: separable components (ones the user removes after opening or after use) go in their own categories; non-separable ones are reported with the main package, in the category of the material that makes up most of the combined weight. CAA's own example is a colored HDPE shampoo bottle with a pressure-sensitive label, reported together as "HDPE (#2) - Bottles, Jugs, and Jars (Pigmented/Color)". If a cap is meant to stay on, or the pack tells the consumer to put it back on before disposal, CAA treats it as non-separable.
Small items have their own categories. All three lists have "small format" categories. In CAA's Oregon definitions and CalRecycle's guidance, an item is small format if two or more of its sides measure 2 inches or less (for a round item, the diameter counts as two sides), unless it earns a "Preferred" rating for size sorting under the Association of Plastic Recyclers' test.
Resin codes matter. CAA's January 2025 Oregon definitions say a PET container that doesn't display the #1 resin code goes to "Other/Mixed Rigid Plastic".
Oregon: 62 categories in 8 classes
CAA's 2027 Oregon fee schedule lists 62 reporting categories in eight material classes: Printing and Writing Paper; Glass and Ceramics; Metal; Paper/Fiber; Plastic - Rigid; Plastics - Flexible; Plastics - Other; and Wood and Other Organic Materials. Each category is tagged with a type:
USCL: on Oregon's Uniform Statewide Collection List, the materials that can be collected mixed together at the curb.
PRO: on the PRO Recycling Acceptance List, the materials CAA must collect, normally at depots and drop-off sites.
N/A: on neither list.
Oregon-only categories include "Corrugated Cardboard (Tertiary/transport) non-consumer" and "HDPE (#2)/LDPE (#4) (Pallet Wrap) non-consumer", separate lid categories for PET, HDPE, LDPE and PP, and, new in the 2027 schedule, a split of small-format plastic into "Plastic - Small Format - PE and PP caps and lids, HDPE package handles" and "Plastic - Small Format". The 2026 schedule had one "Plastic - Small Format" category.
Colorado: 61 categories in 9 classes
Colorado's list comes from CAA's approved program plan, which calls it the covered materials list (Table 33, "Covered Materials Reporting Categories"). The 2027 dues schedule uses the same 61 categories in nine classes: Paper Products; Glass and Ceramic; Metal; Paper/Fiber; Plastic - Rigid; Plastic - Flexible; Plastic - Other; Wood and Other Organic Materials; and Certified Compostable Packaging and Food Service Ware. Each category is tagged:
MRL: on the Minimum Recyclables List, which must be collected statewide.
AML: on the Additional Materials List, which may be collected in some areas.
N/C: not collected.
The names largely match Oregon's, with differences. Colorado adds "Waxed Corrugated Cardboard", squeeze-tube categories for HDPE and PP, and four certified-compostable categories tied to ASTM standards. It has a single "Plastic - Small Format", no separate lid categories (larger PP lids sit in "PP (#5) - Containers, Cups, Lids, Plates, Trays, Tubs"), and no non-consumer transport categories.
California: CalRecycle's 95 covered material categories
California's categories are set by CalRecycle, not CAA. The covered material categories (CMC) list has six material classes (Glass, Ceramic, Metal, Paper and Fiber, Plastic, and Wood and Other Organic Materials) and 95 categories in the January 2026 update. It works differently from the Oregon and Colorado lists:
Category IDs: each category has a code such as 25_P1P. The number is the year of the category version, the letters are the class, and a final N or P means without or with a plastic component.
"With plastic component": a non-plastic item that contains any plastic (CalRecycle's examples include a plastic label, plastic tape and plastic adhesive) goes in the "w/ plastic component" version of its category. CalRecycle's guidance doesn't say which plastic components count as de minimis; it tells CAA members to ask CAA.
Dominant material: an item made of several materials is classed by the material that makes up the largest share of its weight. Each detachable component is categorized separately. CalRecycle counts a component as detachable if it is typically removed in ordinary use, even if it's thrown away attached.
Plastic component count: California also wants the number of plastic components, not just weight.
No paper products: printing and writing paper, magazines and catalogs aren't covered in California, so the list has no such categories.
California's regulations tie each year's report to the list in effect on January 1 of the previous calendar year. For the 2027 report on 2026 data, that appears to be the January 2026 update, but check with CAA before you file.
Where each official list lives
Oregon: every category name is in CAA's public 2027 Oregon fee schedule (PDF). CAA's Oregon Reporting Category Definitions, January 2025 (PDF) is still public and gives definitions, examples and tips for each category. The current version (revised March 2026) is in the CAA Producer Portal, open only to producers that have signed CAA's participant agreement.
Maryland, Minnesota and Washington: detailed reporting categories aren't final. CAA's 2026 reports there used eight broad material classes. Maryland's classes and subcategories are in COMAR 26.04.14.04.
Fee and dues schedules show the category names but not the definitions. When a name doesn't settle it, the definitions document decides.
Worked example: one product, three states
This example is illustrative. It's a made-up product, not any real brand's, and the weights are invented. The categories follow the public documents above, but CAA's current classification guidance for each state governs, so check your own packaging against it.
The product: liquid soap in a 16 oz clear PET bottle marked #1, with a plastic pressure-sensitive label, a PP (#5) screw cap about 1.1 inches across and 0.7 inches tall, shipped to the customer on its own in a corrugated box. The consumer removes the cap to use the product, and the pack doesn't say to put it back on.
Bottle with label (32 g together). The label stays on the bottle, so it's weighed and reported with it.
Oregon: "PET (#1) - Bottles, Jugs, and Jars (Clear/Natural)"
Colorado: "PET (#1) - Bottles, Jugs, and Jars (Clear/Natural)"
California: 25_P1P, Plastic, PET (#1), "Bottles, Jugs, and Jars (Clear/Natural)"
If the label were a perforated shrink sleeve meant to be torn off, it would be separable and go to a flexible plastic category instead, such as "Plastic Laminates and Other Flexible Plastic Packaging" for a PET sleeve.
Cap (4 g). Separable, and at least two of its dimensions are 2 inches or less, so it's small format.
Oregon: "Plastic - Small Format - PE and PP caps and lids, HDPE package handles" (2027 schedule)
Colorado: "Plastic - Small Format"
California: 25_P47P, Plastic, "Small – Two or more sides measuring 2” or less" (CalRecycle lists caps as an example)
If the pack told consumers to put the cap back on before recycling, CAA would treat it as non-separable in Oregon and Colorado and you'd add its weight to the bottle. California would still treat it as a separate item, because the consumer removes it in ordinary use.
Shipper box (120 g).
Oregon: "Corrugated Cardboard". The non-consumer category is only for transport packaging that never reaches the consumer; a box delivered to the buyer by remote sale goes here.
Colorado: "Corrugated Cardboard"
California: 25_PF9N, Paper and Fiber, OCC, "Cardboard w/o plastic component", or 25_PF9P, "Cardboard w/ plastic component", if the box carries any plastic, such as plastic tape or plastic adhesive.
Then multiply by units. If 10,000 units shipped into Oregon in 2026, that's 705.48 lb of clear PET bottles (32 g × 10,000), 88.18 lb of small-format caps and 2,645.55 lb of corrugated cardboard. The category matters for the bill: in Oregon's 2027 schedule, those categories carry final rates of $0.19, $0.41 and $0.02 per pound.
How this feeds the annual supply report
The CAA annual supply report asks for total pounds per state category, a written methodology, your brands and affiliates, and a signed attestation. The next report covers calendar 2026 and is expected around June 1, 2027. A workable order:
List every packaging component of every SKU you sold in 2026, with its material, resin code, size and weight in grams.
Decide for each component whether it's separable, and combine non-separable ones by majority weight.
Assign each component a category for each state you report in, using that state's list.
Multiply component weights by units shipped into each state, sum by category, and convert to pounds (round the final figures to 2 decimal places).
For California, also count plastic components.
Write down how you made each category decision. It belongs in your methodology, and CAA can ask for backup.
Need the numbers for your report? We turn your product catalog, packaging and sales into pounds per category for each state, with a written methodology. Email hello@eprhelp.com with your states and roughly how many products you sell, and we'll reply with a fixed quote.