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As Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR)<\/a> regulations begin to take effect, companies must prepare for more stringent packaging reporting requirements and face potential penalties of up to $50,000 per day for noncompliance.<\/p>\n These regulations \u2013 which are already being implemented in Oregon, California, Minnesota, Maine, and Colorado \u2013 will require businesses to rethink packaging design.<\/p>\n To discuss this, we recently sat down with Emily Wynne, Sustainability Expert & Footprinting Co-Lead at Quantis<\/a>.<\/p>\n While recyclability, reusability and compostability are some of the main ways to comply with packaging EPR regulations, robust data systems are going to play a key role as well.<\/p>\n \u201cThe data requirements that companies are going to be asked to align with and comply with are unlike anything that we\u2019ve seen before. So really starting to get a handle on your data processes, data auditing and supplier engagement processes is going to be more crucial than ever before,\u201d Wynne said.<\/p>\n Wynne touched on specific strategies for optimizing packaging materials. But, again, any strategies adopted will need to go hand-in-hand with data collection.<\/p>\n \u201cI think we\u2019ve seen a lot of work in light-weighting and mono-materialization. Obviously, working to more \u2018sustainable\u2019 materials will be critical and one of the key ways that companies can start to optimize,\u201d Wynne said, while simultaneously emphasizing the importance of \u201cgetting those data collection processes in place to ensure that any material swaps or product design improvements are showing marked reductions in environmental impacts.\u201d<\/p>\n You can check out the full video interview above<\/a>.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n