Act Now: Cut Toxic Chemicals from Packaging in Colorado
Toxic chemicals don’t belong in the packaging that touches our food—or in our recycling.
This fall, Colorado will set the rules that decide whether producers are rewarded for safe, recyclable packaging—or allowed to keep using harmful chemicals.
Key Dates
- Colorado’s Solid and Hazardous Waste Commission’s Eco-Modulation Rulemaking
- September 15, 2025: Public comments close. Act now—this is your chance to weigh in!
Download Eco-Cycle’s Eco-Modulation Factsheet
Why It Matters
Every day, packaging is the frontline between us and the products we use. Too often, it contains hazardous chemicals—such as lead, cadmium, mercury, PFAS, BPA, and phthalates—that can leach into food, water, and the environment. These substances also contaminate recycling streams, lowering the value of recycled materials and polluting future products.
Out of 16,000 chemicals identified in plastics, 4,200 are hazardous—persistent, toxic, and mobile in the environment. (PlastChem)
This is not just a recycling problem. It’s a health, safety, and economic issue.
We Have an Opportunity to Get Recycling Right
Colorado’s Producer Responsibility for Packaging and Paper Act (HB22-1355) will expand recycling to every household across the state in 2026. Companies that sell packaging in Colorado will begin funding the recycling system—and how much they pay into the system will depend on the type of packaging they produce. This system is called eco-modulation, where producers pay more for wasteful or hard-to-recycle materials and pay less for packaging that’s recyclable or reusable.
What Is Eco-Modulation?
Eco-modulation is a specific financial incentive system that determines how much producers pay into the recycling system by assigning:
- Bonuses: discounts for safer, recyclable designs (or environmentally positive changes in packaging).
- Penalties (called “Maluses”): extra fees for harmful, wasteful packaging (or environmentally negative changes in packaging)
Right now, draft eco-modulation rules for Colorado don’t explicitly require reducing toxic chemicals in packaging.
>> Colorado’s Solid and Hazardous Waste Commission’s eco-modulation rulemaking this fall is our chance to ensure that the Commission approves the best possible eco-modulation rules for Colorado’s Producer Responsibility.
What’s at Stake
By reducing toxic chemicals through eco-modulation, Colorado can:
Protect public health. Align with states like California, Maine, Washington, and Minnesota, whose Producer Responsibility programs will cut toxic chemicals.
Safeguard recycling value. Toxic additives contaminate recycling streams, make materials more difficult to process, and lower their market value—especially for food-grade packaging, where manufacturers need clean, high-quality recycled materials. We can protect the value of recycled materials by cutting toxins in the design phase.
Strengthen markets. Clean, toxin-free recycled material feedstocks are essential for manufacturers. Reducing toxics builds stronger markets and a healthier circular economy.
Lead the nation. With Colorado among the first US states to design eco-modulation rules, our decisions will help set the standard for the entire country and show how Producer Responsibility can protect health, improve recycling, and make safer packaging the norm.
What We’re Asking For
We urge Colorado regulators to:
- Disallow bonuses for toxic packaging. Producers that intentionally add hazardous chemicals should not be eligible for eco-modulation “bonuses.”
- Expand and clarify eco-modulation rules. Eco-modulation rules must reflect the law’s intent to minimize environmental, social, economic, and health impacts caused by packaging.
- Define “toxicity” and “intentionally added toxic chemicals.” Regulations should spell out what counts as toxicity and include a list of banned chemicals.
- Make incentives meaningful. Current draft rules offer just 1% bonuses, and are capped at 10%—that’s not enough to drive change. Proven systems abroad offer bonuses of 20% or more—Colorado should do the same.
- Align with existing Colorado laws. Producers that use materials already restricted in Colorado—like expanded polystyrene (banned under HB21-1162) and PFAS (restricted under HB22-1345)—should not qualify for eco-modulation bonuses.
How You Can Help
Your voice is critical. Submit your comment by September 15, 2025, to help Colorado cut toxic chemicals from packaging.
This is a critical moment. The Solid and Hazardous Waste Commission will decide how Colorado will reward (or penalize) packaging design.
Submit your written comment by Monday, September 15:
- Email: [email protected]
- Suggested subject line: Support Strong Eco-Modulation & Toxicity Reductions
Strong eco-modulation rules will protect our health, strengthen recycling markets, and set a model for the nation. Add your voice today—before the September 15 deadline—to make sure packaging in Colorado is designed for safety, not pollution.
