PORTLAND — A federal judge will determine by the end of August the future of Oregon’s nascent statewide recycling modernization law, meant to require product manufacturers and distributors to cover some of the packaging disposal costs Oregonians currently pay via municipal and specialty waste fees.
“I truly have not made up my mind on what to do and how to analyze this problem and what conclusion to reach,” said U.S. District Court Judge Michael Simon on Friday afternoon following a five-day trial in National Association of Wholesaler-Distributors v. Feldon that began Monday.
The wholesaler-distributors association, a trade group representing what it says is the $8.2 trillion wholesale distribution industry, first brought the suit against Oregon’s 2021 Recycling Modernization Act in July 2025. In it, they allege the law is unconstitutional and inhibits interstate commerce.
The trade group represents hundreds of companies that buy bulk products, repackage them and resell them to consumers, and it includes food, beverage and electronics companies.
The suit names the Oregon Department of Environmental Quality and its director, Leah Feldon, the Environmental Quality Commission and Attorney General Dan Rayfield as defendants.
Throughout the week, lawyers for both sides called in recycling systems experts who scrutinized the efficacy, cost fairness and constitutionality of Oregon’s recycling modernization law and compared it to similar laws implemented in Germany, Canada and more recently in other states.
Although Oregon is the first state to start charging companies for some of the end-life waste disposal costs created by their packaging, and the first to be sued over it, six other states have enacted similar packaging laws. The wholesalers are challenging or joining in challenges brought by other industry groups in those states, and the ruling in Oregon could impact those cases.
The Oregon Legislature passed the state’s law in 2021, intending to create statewide standards for what can and cannot be recycled. The law established new packaging fees for companies that sell products in Oregon.
The fees, based on the weight and recyclability of the material, are meant to require product manufacturers and distributors to cover some of the packaging disposal costs currently borne by taxpayers, who pay for municipal garbage and recycling services that are dealing with increasingly complex materials. The law exempts producers who earn $5 million or less in gross revenue.
Products with less packaging and with reusable packaging carry lower fees than goods packaged in bulky plastics and single-use materials, ideally encouraging producers to choose lighter, more sustainable materials. It follows regulations in Oregon in recent years that require manufacturers to pick up some of the end-of-life costs of paint, mattresses and electronics, or to invest in programs to recycle such products.
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