Your specs live in six places. Your EPR numbers have to survive an audit.
Producer Ledger helps consumer brands assemble packaging reporting and fee calculations in California, Oregon, and Colorado. If your packaging specifications are currently scattered across supplier emails, spec sheets, and spreadsheets: you send the files. We log every one. Originals stay untouched. We reconcile component tare weights and assemble an auditable reporting package your team and counsel can stand behind.
Seven U.S. states have enacted packaging EPR legislation: California, Oregon, Colorado, Maine, Minnesota, Maryland, and Washington. However, only three have active operational fee schedules and mandatory reporting today (Oregon, Colorado, and California). The remaining four are in pre-fee planning stages through 2028 and 2029. We build a single, normalized packaging bill of materials that resolves your immediate compliance obligations in CA, OR, and CO today, and scales across all seven states as future schedules go live.Read our 7-state timeline and breakdown →
This is a fit if you check three boxes:
- Multi-state footprint: You sell packaged consumer goods into California, Oregon, or Colorado.
- Scattered documentation: Your packaging specifications, component weights, and state sales figures live across inboxes, supplier portals, and ERP extracts rather than a single governed bill of materials.
- Need for verifiable proof: You want documented evidence behind every gram weight before certifying numbers in state compliance portals.
If that describes your situation, a quick fit check will confirm whether our process matches your catalog.
Built for operations and finance teams
Operations & Supply Chain
You own the compliance deadline, but your packaging data is trapped in supplier PDF spec sheets, and your SKU count doesn't easily translate into distinct packaging builds. We take the raw documentation off your desk, consolidate your products into true packaging configurations, and do the tedious data reconciliation so you can stay focused on daily operations.
Finance, Leadership & Legal
You need to know that the numbers your company certifies won't trigger surprise fee adjustments, audit penalties, or costly legal revisions. Every calculation we deliver ties directly to published state fee schedules and documented source files, backed by dual mass reconciliations and clear workpapers.
Why software and traditional consulting fall short
For brands with products already on store shelves, packaging EPR is primarily an unstructured data challenge. Existing alternatives tend to leave the hardest part of the job on your shoulders:
| Approach | Where Brands Get Stuck | How Producer Ledger Works |
|---|---|---|
| Compliance Software Platforms | They provide an empty portal or database, but assume your packaging data is already clean and structured. Overseas suppliers rarely log into third-party portals, leaving your internal team to manually chase and enter every weight. | Hands-on data engineering: We ingest your raw PDFs, invoices, and spreadsheets directly, resolving component weights and material classifications for you. |
| Boutique Advisory Firms | Engagements often start with large retainers, produce high-level slide decks, and delegate the actual spreadsheet work to junior analysts. | Practical, bounded execution: We offer a fixed-fee diagnostic ($1,500–$2,500) and focused pilots, with direct principal delivery and zero open-ended hourly billing. |
| Environmental Law Firms | They provide essential statutory interpretations at high hourly rates, but they do not clean messy CSVs, weigh physical packaging samples, or map hundreds of SKUs. | Upstream preparation: We assemble, verify, and reconcile your workpapers so legal counsel can review and approve your filing in a fraction of the time. |
The workpaper package you receive
1. Normalized Packaging BOM
Every separable component is cataloged with its function, material type, tare weight in grams, and documentary evidence grade.
2. Statutory Category Mappings
Each component is mapped to California, Oregon, and Colorado reporting categories, complete with specific statutory citations and schedule versions.
3. Dual Reconciliations
Mathematical tie-outs ensuring that unit sales multiplied by component weights match reported state totals and align with warehouse fulfillment data.
4. Sourced Fee Estimates
Calculations derived strictly from official, published state fee schedules, clearly identifying which figures are current and which remain provisional.
5. Unresolved Exposure Register
A transparent tracking register that pinpoints missing supplier specifications or ambiguous categories, assigning a clear owner to each item.
6. Draft Portal Workbook & Sign-Off
A populated workbook matching official PRO portal templates, accompanied by a formal certification pack for internal approval before submission.
How an engagement runs
- Source file inventory:We gather your existing spec sheets, drawings, sales reports, and supplier emails, establishing a secure archive where originals remain untouched.
- Configuration mapping:We group your active product SKUs into shared packaging configurations. Illustrative: 300 SKUs collapsed to 11 builds in the synthetic demo. Your count depends on how many boxes you actually share.
- State category classification:We map each component against current state rules in California, Oregon, and Colorado, evaluating physical form, barrier layers, and closures rather than relying on resin codes alone.
- Fee calculation against published schedules:We run calculations against retained, published state schedules, documenting the exact version and effective date for every rate used.
- Dual reconciliation & client sign-off:We verify that packaging totals reconcile to sales volume, complete independent quality checks on key categories, and provide a full sign-off package for your team and counsel.
Review our 9-gate workflow, evidence tiers, and workpaper sample →
Or run the illustrative one-product demo with researched weights and live math →
Oregon is live with 2026 fees — status and 2027 rates →
Colorado dues are live — schedule and dry-short-ton trap →
California early fee vs. the 2027 schedule →
Engagement options & pricing
1. Free Fit Check (20 minutes): A brief introductory review to examine your entity footprint, estimated configuration count, and available documentation. We confirm whether our process is a good match before anyone spends money.
2. Packaging Data Diagnostic ($1,500 – $2,500): For up to 25 packaging configurations. We inventory your source files, map your configurations, grade component evidence, and provide a detailed gap list alongside a fixed proposal for full filing preparation. This is priced to fit within standard single-signer authority. Fee outputs are estimates from named schedule versions, not invoices from the state or PRO.
3. Filing-Ready Pilot ($5,000 – $10,000+): For up to 50 configurations across up to three states. Includes the complete 9-artifact workpaper package, dual reconciliations, draft portal uploads, and a formal sign-off dossier.
4. Annual Managed Update: Ongoing support to track regulatory changes, capture quarterly packaging updates, and refresh annual reporting data as new state schedules take effect.
Producer Ledger provides packaging data assembly and compliance support. We are not a law firm and do not provide legal advice. Determinations regarding statutory producer status, legal exemptions, contractual assignment, and regulatory enforcement remain with your qualified legal counsel. Fee outputs are estimates based on published schedules, not invoices from state agencies or producer responsibility organizations. We never file reports on your behalf without your explicit written approval.
Principal-led practice
Producer Ledger was founded by Alexander Benderski, bringing a background in software architecture and data systems to the packaging compliance challenge. We view packaging EPR as a data integrity discipline that requires version control, clear provenance, and rigorous reconciliation. Every engagement is delivered directly by the principal, ensuring close attention to detail and consistent quality on every file.About Producer Ledger →