Closing Out the Year with Gratitude—and a Look Ahead
This blog post is written by Geoffrey Inch, SVP, Producer Services at Circular Action Alliance.
To our Producers, as we close out a groundbreaking 2025, I first want to personally thank each of you for your partnership. Navigating new requirements and systems is no small task, and your commitment to launching EPR in the United States has been nothing short of remarkable. Your thoughtful questions and feedback didn’t just guide us—they helped shape better solutions for everyone. We deeply appreciate your trust, adaptability and collaboration, and we’re excited to continue building a harmonized producer experience together in the year ahead.
This was a milestone year for producer responsibility, and your engagement made it possible. This year, we:
Launched our first operational EPR program in Oregon, including CAA’s first-ever Producer Report.
Expanded and enhanced our Producer Portal with a focus on producer experience and data security, continually adding features and improvements through producer feedback.
Delivered more than 20 guidance materials, including registration and reporting guidance, preparation workbooks and fee/dues schedules.
Responded to more than 34,000 producer inquiries, improving response times by 34% from Q1 to Q4; further investments are planned for 2026 to keep improving the efficiency of our support.
Advanced our pre-operational programs, including securing Colorado program plan approval, advancing California with public consultation informing the initial draft of the program plan, and expanding into Minnesota, Maryland and Washington - reinforcing CAA as the go-to PRO partner for U.S. EPR.
These achievements are a direct result of your dedication and hard work. The progress we’ve made together is something you can share with your teams—your efforts have set new standards for producer responsibility.
How Producer Input Shaped the Work
CAA deeply values the consultative relationship with its producers. In 2025, we heard from many of you about the challenges of adapting to new registration and reporting requirements. Your participation in formal consultations and informal feedback directly shaped our updated agreements, guidance, portals, policies and processes.
While some of this year’s uncertainty stemmed from the early stage of U.S. EPR and the initial rollout of these programs—factors largely outside CAA’s influence—we greatly appreciate your feedback, which emphasized the importance of simplicity, transparency and clarity. These insights directly shaped CAA's improvements, which include enhanced portal functionality, streamlined reporting tools, a new early fees methodology and a clear, reliable timeline for 2026.
Your voice matters. Please keep sharing what works and what doesn’t—we’re listening.
Looking Ahead to 2026
What’s next? Here’s what producers can expect in the new year:
A more harmonized and consistent reporting experience across programs, with aligned deadlines in the spring and timely publication of fee schedules in the fall to support internal planning.
Enhanced producer support and resources through continued investment in the Producer Portal, improved access to guidance and proactive educational outreach.
Ongoing focus on producer participation and compliance, including enhanced report validation and timely compliance monitoring.
CAA remains focused on being a reliable, trusted partner. We are committed to reducing complexity and continually improving the producer experience, with a dedication to practical, well-structured implementation as programs grow and scale. Your insights continue to guide us. Please keep the dialogue going as we work together to build a stronger, more sustainable system.
Thank you for being part of this journey. We look forward to building even greater impact together in 2026. Wishing you a restful holiday season and the chance to recharge for the year ahead.