Nationwide
In April 2025, ECOS published a Compendium of State PFAS Actions to promote “information sharing and coordination among state and federal partners and other stakeholders.” The report summarizes the PFAS action plans or strategies of 22 states as well as those of the nine states currently developing such plans.
Arkansas
On May 21, 2025, the Arkansas Natural Resources Commission approved a program to sample lakes and rivers statewide for PFAS contamination. According to reporting from the Arkansas Advocate, there are two known PFAS contamination sites from Air Force bases using PFAS-containing firefighting foam, but this study should help find if there are other firefighting foam or industrial contamination sources in the state.
California
SB 54 – CalRecycle is developing formal extended producer responsibility rules for legislation SB 54, the Plastic Pollution Prevention and Packaging Producer Responsibility Act, which passed in 2022 (FPF reported). CalRecycle released the latest draft in May 2025; this draft is expected to be the one that will be put out for public comment later this year. According to ChemicalWatch, “[t]he revised text includes new compliance dates, broader exemptions and a possible green light for chemical recycling.” On June 30, 2025, CalRecycle and Cascadia Consulting Group published preliminary findings from a survey of single-use packaging in California landfills, something required by SB 54. Additional analyses will take place over the summer with revised findings to be published in Fall 2025. Public feedback will be accepted through the fall.
SB 1046 – On January 1, 2025, a statewide ban on expanded polystyrene (EPS) food serviceware went into effect. EPS would have been allowed to continue if at that time producers were able to demonstrate that all EPS met a 25% recycling rate. Also as of January 1, 2025, produce bags and other “pre-checkout bags” must be compostable or made of recycled paper, according to SB 1046.
Three other California bills covering bisphenols and ortho-phthalates in food packaging, PFAS in consumer products, and tethered bottle caps are being considered during this legislative session.
Delaware
SB 51 from 2023 came into effect on July 1, 2025. Food service providers must stop using foam containers or cups, and some single-use plastic items including straws, stir sticks, and picks unless requested.
Hawaii
HB 750 – On May 27, 2025, Governor Josh Green signed HB 750 into law. It orders the Hawaiian Department of Health to establish an advisory council and begin a statewide recycling needs assessment to be delivered back to the legislature by the end of 2027. The assessment is “to determine what would be needed to transition to a more circular system with less waste generation and more reuse, and the necessary infrastructure to sort and locally process recyclable materials through an extended producer responsibility program for packaging materials and paper products.”
Illinois
SB 727 – Signed into law March 25, 2025, it requires the state of Illinois to match the rules pertaining to maximum containment levels (MCLs) for PFAS developed by the US Environmental Protection Agency.
SB 2876 – As of January 1, 2025, event spaces with a capacity of 3,000 or more that receive any funding from the State “shall participate in the recycling program established by the county in which the event facility is located and shall send recyclable materials to a recycling center.” Generally, this means providing recycling and composting containers to event participants.
SB 58 – “On or before July 1, 2025, each State agency shall establish and implement a plan to reduce the quantity of single-use plastics used or purchased by that State agency by 50% on or before 2031 and by 75% on or before 2036.”
Maine
LD 1909 – Tweaks the Maine bottle bill. Beginning January 1, 2025, redemption centers may sort by material (plastic, glass, metal) instead of brand, easing compliance for deposit containers (FPF reported).
LD 1065 – While not directly food packaging related, it could pertain to organizations using degradable packaging materials. This bill requires that organizations or companies producing large amounts of food waste must send it to be composted. The bill begins July 1, 2030, with institutions that generate > 2 tons of organic waste per week if they are within 20 miles (32 km) of a composting facility and becomes more widely applicable over time.
Maryland
SB 901 – On May 13, 2025, Maryland established an extended producer responsibility (EPR) scheme for packaging and paper products, including all food and beverage containers. The program will split responsibility for recycling costs between producers and taxpayers.
Minnesota
As of January 1, 2025, it is illegal to sell products including cookware, cosmetics, and cleaning supplies with intentionally added PFAS (FPF reported also here).
According to the Sustainable Packaging Coalition, as one of the first steps of an EPR law passed in 2024, packaging producers in Minnesota had a July 1, 2025, deadline to register with the Circular Action Alliance, the state’s producer responsibility organization.
New Jersey
New Jersey passed a law in 2022 to ban polystyrene food containers in May 2025. The Department of Environmental Protection has given companies one more year to adjust, extending the ban to May 4, 2026 (FPF reported).
New Mexico
HB 212 – On April 8, 2025, the New Mexico Governor signed into law the PFAS Protection Act which phases out intentionally added PFAS in food packaging, cookware and select other product categories by January 1, 2027, with full-product ban by 2032 (FPF reported). The law makes an exception for fluoropolymers.
Oregon
SB 543 – From January 1, 2025, polystyrene foam food serviceware was banned in Oregon. The same 2023 law also bans as of this year any food contact packaging with intentionally added PFAS (FPF reported).
Rhode Island
HB 7619 – From January 1, 2025, restaurants in Rhode Island may not serve food or drinks in polystyrene foam containers or provide plastic beverage stirrers. The bill also bans the sale of food packaging containing intentionally added PFAS which came into effect on the same day. The PFAS component of the bill was originally supposed to go into effect in 2024 but was delayed twice (FPF reported).
Tennessee
SB 880 – Signed by the Governor on April 21, 2025, the legislation directs all future rules on PFAS and other chemicals to rely on “the best available science.” According to the bill, “‘best available science’ means science that (i) is reliable, unbiased, and reasonably applied to the agency’s regulatory action; (ii) maximizes the quality, objectivity, and integrity of information; human, animal, and other relevant scientific studies; and human health risk-based assessments; and (iii) involves the use of supporting studies that are conducted in accordance with sound and objective scientific practices utilizing data collected by generally accepted methods or best available methods, subject to independent verification, and published in a refereed journal.”
Vermont
H 238 – On June 11, 2025, the Governor of Vermont signed an amendment to the state’s existing PFAS ban. Intentionally added PFAS in cookware will not be banned until July 1, 2028. Intentionally added PFAS in food packaging will still be banned as of the original date of January 1, 2026 (FPF reported also here).
Virginia
Effective from July 1, 2025, “no food vendor of any type shall dispense prepared food to a customer in an expanded polystyrene food service container” in the state of Virginia (FPF reported).
Washington
On May 17, 2025, Washington Gov. Bob Ferguson signed multiple waste-related reform bills into law.
SB 5284 – The Recycling Reform Act creates a packaging EPR program. The program in Washington will split responsibility for recycling costs between producers and taxpayers.
HB 1293 – According to Waste Dive, this law increases penalties for littering and delays the implementation of certain provisions from a 2020 single-use plastic bag law.” Originally, businesses were going to be obligated to offer ‘reusable’ bags with a thickness of at least 4 mm by 2026, but HB 1293 moved that requirement to 2028. The thicker bags will also come with a 4-cent fee.
HB 1497 – Washington State has a goal to reduce organic waste by 75% from a 2015 baseline. HB 1497 contributes to that through multiple avenues including starting a grant program, changing building codes to support organics collection, standardizing container requirements, obligating certain housing types to support organics collection, and incorporating food waste into school lesson planning.
Wisconsin
According to reporting from Earth and Water Group, “[o]n June 24, 2025, the Wisconsin Supreme Court issued a decision in Wisconsin Manufacturers and Commerce, Inc. v. Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources (2025 WI 26), holding that the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources (WDNR) has the legal authority to regulate per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) and other emerging contaminants as “hazardous substances” under the Wisconsin “Spills Law” (Wis. Stat. § 292.11)—without first formally engaging in rulemaking to designate them as hazardous.”
This article is part of a series from the Food Packaging Forum reviewing global regulatory and waste management regulation from Q1 and Q2 2025. Other articles in the series cover Europe, South and Southeast Asia, South America, and Africa and the Middle East.
References
Sarah Grace Hughes and Julia Henderson (April 2025). “ECOS Compendium of state PFAS action plans.” ECOS (pdf).
Ainsley Platt (May 21, 2025). “Arkansas to test surface waters for PFAS, identify contamination sources.” Arkansas Advocate
CalRecycle. “SB 54 Plastic Pollution Prevention and Packaging Producer Responsibility Act Permanent Regulations.”
CalRecycle. “Plastic Pollution Prevention and Packaging Producer Responsibility Act: SB54.”
Amanda Doyle (June 3, 2025). “California releases draft revised regulations on packaging EPR.” Chemical Watch News & Insight
CalRecycle and Cascadia (June 30, 2025). “What’s in California Landfills: Measuring Single-Use Packaging and Plastic Food Service Ware Disposed (2025) – Preliminary findings.”
Maria Rachal (June 9, 2025). “California advances bills to limit PFAS and other toxics in food packaging.” Packaging Dive
Delaware 152nd General Assembly (August 22, 2023). “An act to amend Title 16 of the Delaware Code relating to the use of single-service plastic implements and polystyrene containers in food establishments.”
Hawai’i State Legislature (May 27, 2025). “HB 750.”
Illinois General Assembly (2025). “SB 727: Safe Public Drinking Water Act.”
Illinois General Assembly (2025). “SB 2876: Large Event Facilities Act.”
Illinois General Assembly (2025). “SB 58: State Entities Single-Use Plastic Reporting Act.”
State of Maine Legislature (July 25, 2023). “An Act to Modernize Maine’s Beverage Container Redemption Law.”
State of Maine Legislature (June 24, 2025). “An Act Regarding the Reduction and Recycling of Food Waste.”
Maryland General Assembly (May 2025). “Environment – Packaging and Paper Products – Producer Responsibility Plans.”
State of New Jersey Dept. of Env. Protection (January 10, 2025). “Polystyrene foam food service product extension.”
Keller & Heckman (April 24, 2025). “New Mexico Joins Maine and Minnesota in enacting bans on PFAS in food packaging and cookware.” PackagingLaw.com
Oregon Legislature (2023). “SB 543.”
Rhode Island State Legislature (June 17, 2024) “Rhode Island House Bill 7619.”
Tennessee General Assembly (July 1, 2025). “SB 0880.”
Vermont State Legislature (June 11, 2025). “No. 54. An act relating to the phaseout of consumer products containing added perfluoroalkyl and polyfluoroalkyl substances.”
Virginia General Assembly (2021). “§ 10.1-1424.3. Expanded polystyrene food service containers prohibited; civil penalty.” Virginia Law
Washington State Legislature (May 17, 2025). “SB 5284: Improving Washington’s solid waste management outcomes.”
Washington State Legislature (May 17, 2025). “HB 1293: Concerning litter.”
Washington State Legislature (May 17, 2025). “HB 1497: Improving outcomes associated with waste material management systems.”
Cole Rosengren and Jacob Wallace (May 19, 2025). “Washington governor signs laws regulating landfills, expanding organics service and more.” Waste Dive
Brendan McGinnis (June 25, 2025). “Wisconsin supreme court upholds state cleanup program and WDNR authority to regulate PFAS.” Earth and Water Group
Read more
Maria Rachal (January 2, 2025). “Packaging laws taking effect in 2025.” Packaging Dive
Brian D. Israel and Leigh Logan (April 7, 2025). “PFAS Legislative & Regulatory Developments – First Quarter 2025.” Paul Hastings
Maria Rachal (June 2, 2025). “Hawai’i governor signs packaging EPR study bill.” Waste Dive
Lucy Pierce (2025). “Packaging policy roundup.” Sustainable Packaging Coalition
