Skip to main content

AF&PA Statement Following Court Decision on Oregon EPR Litigation

AF&PA Remains Focused on Addressing Burdensome Requirements and Protecting Members

WASHINGTON, D.C. – The following statement is attributable to American Forest & Paper Association President and CEO Heidi Brock following the court’s decision to deny AF&PA’s motion to join the challenge to Oregon’s Recycling Modernization Act:

“We are disappointed by the court’s decision denying our motion to join the challenge to Oregon’s Recycling Modernization Act. While we respectfully disagree with the ruling, AF&PA remains fully committed to pursuing all available legal and strategic options to protect our members’ interests. 

As Oregon’s program moves into implementation, it is becoming clear that the law imposes significant and unnecessary burdens on paper products that are already among the most successfully recycled materials in the United States. 

These burdens include higher-than-anticipated fees, expanded reporting and compliance obligations and policy design choices that shift costs onto paper manufacturers without meaningfully improving recycling outcomes.

We will continue working closely with partners and counsel to secure meaningful relief for our members and ensure that recycling policies are workable, fact-based and do not increase costs across the supply chain for businesses and consumers alike.”

The American Forest & Paper Association (AF&PA) serves to advance public policies that foster economic growth, job creation and global competitiveness for a vital sector that makes the essential paper and packaging products Americans use every day. The U.S. forest products industry employs more than 925,000 people, largely in rural America, and is among the top 10 manufacturing sector employers in 44 states. Our industry accounts for approximately 4.7% of the total U.S. manufacturing GDP, manufacturing more than $435 billion in products annually. AF&PA member companies are significant producers and users of renewable biomass energy and are committed to making sustainable products for a sustainable future through the industry’s decades-long initiative — Better Practices, Better Planet 2030