What Is a PRO and Do You Need One?

What Is a PRO and Do You Need One?

A PRO, or producer responsibility organization, is the entity that runs the EPR program on behalf of producers. You register with it, report your packaging data to it, and pay your fees to it. In most cases, working with a PRO is not optional. It is how you comply.

What a PRO actually does

A PRO is typically a nonprofit set up and funded by producers. Its job list is long:

• Registers producers and keeps the obligated-party list.
• Collects packaging data through reporting portals and workbooks.
• Calculates and invoices fees based on reported weights and material rates.
• Funds the recycling system: collection, sorting, processing, and education.
• Reports to the regulator on system performance against targets.
• Runs the program plan that the regulator approves.

Think of it this way: the government writes the law, the PRO operates the program, and you feed it data and money. The regulator audits the PRO, and the PRO keeps you honest.

The big PROs in North America

United States: Circular Action Alliance (CAA). Founded in 2022 by companies from the food, beverage, consumer goods, and retail industries, CAA is the designated PRO for packaging EPR in California, Colorado, Oregon, Minnesota, Maryland, and Washington. It runs producer registration, data reporting portals, and fee collection across those states, with harmonized reporting where the laws allow.

Ontario: Circular Materials. The not-for-profit administrator of Ontario's common collection system. Since the Blue Box transition completed on January 1, 2026, producers fund 100% of residential recycling in the province through this system. Other PROs operating in Ontario's system include Ryse Solutions, Landbell Canada, and EnvironFocus.

Quebec: Éco Entreprises Québec (ÉEQ). The PRO for Quebec's modernized curbside recycling system, operating under full producer responsibility. In 2025 the system collected 791,000 tonnes of material.

British Columbia: Recycle BC. Running full packaging EPR since 2014, the first program of its kind in North America.

Nova Scotia and New Brunswick operate through their provincial organizations, with New Brunswick transitioning to Circular Materials as PRO.

PRO vs individual compliance

Most laws let a producer comply individually instead of joining the PRO, but the bar is deliberately high. California, for example, allows individual compliance only for producers that meet strict requirements, including demonstrating very high recycling rates for their materials over multiple years. For nearly every food and beverage company, joining the PRO is the only realistic path.

That is fine. The PRO exists precisely so that a 40-person food company does not have to build its own recycling system. Your job is the data and the fees. Theirs is everything else.

Do you need one? Probably yes

If you are obligated in a jurisdiction with a designated PRO, you register with that PRO. There is no way to be compliant without being in the system. The real question is not whether you need a PRO, but whether your data is ready for one.

See also The Complete Guide to Packaging EPR and How Packaging EPR Works.

How to work with your PRO

In practice, working with a PRO means living in their portal. You register your company and legal entities, then use their reporting workbooks to submit packaging data on schedule. CAA runs state-specific portals for California, Colorado, Oregon, Minnesota, Maryland, and Washington, with guidance documents for each report type. Canadian PROs run their own equivalents.

Treat the PRO as a counterparty, not a vendor. They set data formats, deadlines, and validation rules. Build your internal data to match their templates from the start, and reporting becomes a routine export instead of a quarterly fire drill.

When there is more than one PRO

Some jurisdictions have multiple PROs. Ontario's system includes Circular Materials as the common collection system administrator alongside PROs like Ryse Solutions, Landbell Canada, and EnvironFocus. In that case you choose a PRO to work with, but your obligation is the same regardless. Pick based on service quality and fit, not on price alone, because the underlying fees flow through to the system either way.

We built NorthEPR to get you PRO-ready: software that helps food and beverage producers figure out where they have to report their packaging, what they owe, and get their filings ready on time. We are opening 3 free pilot spots right now: a 2026 packaging-data health check plus first filing support. Take a look at the pilot.