Just Hearing About California’s EPR Program? You’re Already Late.
If your winery isn’t exempt, four California EPR filings were due by August 1, 2026, and CalRecycle can fine wineries up to $50,000 per day, per violation.
And no, paying CRV on your bottles doesn’t get you out of it. The glass bottle is excluded, but you still report, and pay EPR fees on, your closures, capsules, boxes, and shipping supplies. If you ship to other EPR states bottles are included.
We have a solution for you. Our EPR for Wineries – Guide + Workbook translates 300+ pages of regulations into wine-speak, so you can get caught up fast.
Get EPR Updates. Sign up at the bottom of this page.
Why You Need This
The EPR Program in California requires wineries to report the packaging used on the wine they sold into the state, and other states have EPR Programs with their own rules. For most small, family wineries, these are brand-new reports, with deadlines and penalties to match.
And wineries can’t fly under the radar. CalRecycle already knows your winery through the CRV program, the lawsuits against SB 54 haven’t paused a single deadline, and the next reports, using your 2026 data, are due May 31, 2027.
The reports aren’t about the wine. They’re about the closures, capsules, labels, boxes, and shipping supplies that went out with it, and how much of each went into each state.
The EPR Program’s rules were written for every kind of packaging, from cereal boxes to shampoo bottles. Figuring out how they apply to a capsule, a cork, or a wine box is the hard part, and it’s the part we’ve already done.
Not sure whether your winery has to report? Wineries with less than $1 million in California sales may qualify for the Small Producer Exemption, but only if they apply. See the FAQs below.
We’ve Already Figured Out the Winery Part
The EPR for Wineries – Guide + Workbook
What You Get
Everything you need to get your packaging totals done, built for the way small wineries actually work.
EPR for Wineries Guide: the rules in plain English, and the key decisions for your winery
EPR Workbook: one document for your packaging and sales, with built-in formulas that you use each year to report your totals
Video walkthroughs: each step demonstrated in our usual jargon-free language
Checklist and two-page summary: so next year you just repeat the steps
A one-time purchase you’ll use every year.
What It Saves You
We’ve done the hard thinking for you, so you can skip straight to the answers.
Research: no digging through 300+ pages of CalRecycle regulations
Confusion: no deciphering 95 different types of materials
Repeated decisions: make each decision once, and the workbook keeps it for next year
Time: set it up once, then add new SKUs and update your sales each year
A clear system you can use is worth more than a stack of information you have to sort through.
Why EPR Reporting Is Complicated
The rules are new, and the reports ask for packaging information most wineries have never tracked in one document.
The regulations are full of unfamiliar terms and acronyms, with confusing reports and requirements.
Packaging materials need details only your vendors can provide.
Each wine uses several packaging materials: container, closure, capsule, label, and box.
Sales by SKU from Distribution and DTC have to be matched to the states where the wine was shipped.
That’s a lot to pull together when you’re also running a winery. And you’ll do it again every year, for every EPR state your wine ships to, and more states are adding EPR Programs.
The CAA’s actual reporting workbooks for California and Colorado
Get Started with
EPR Reporting for Wineries
Launching soon. Sign up below for updates.
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EPR for Wineries – Guide + Workbook
Best For:
Wineries that report in California only
Includes:
EPR for Wineries Guide
EPR Workbook
Video walkthroughs
Example workbook
Checklist
Two-page summary
One-time purchase
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EPR for Wineries – Guide + Multi-State Workbook, Vol 1
Best For:
Wineries that need to report in more than one of these EPR states.
Includes:
EPR for Wineries Guide
EPR Multi-State Workbook
Video walkthroughs
Example workbook
Checklist
Two-page summary
Material IDs for each state
Reporting tips for each state
States: CA, CO, ME, MD, MN, OR, WA
One-time purchase
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EPR Analysis Service
Best For:
Wineries with complex packaging
Includes:
Coming soon
Coming soon
Coming soon
Requires the EPR for Wineries – Guide + Multi-State Workbook
Priced per reporting year
About the EPR Program
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Maybe. Wineries with less than $1 million in California gross sales in the most recent calendar year may qualify for the Small Producer Exemption, but it isn’t automatic. You have to register in PEPRS, CalRecycle’s online system, apply, and be approved. Until CalRecycle approves your application, you’re treated like any other producer. An approved exemption lasts 2 years, or until your California sales go over $1 million. If you missed the June 1, 2026 deadline, apply now.Item description
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No. Penalties of $50,000 per day per violation are the maximum CalRecycle may impose, and they can’t start until 30 days after a Notice of Violation. But waiting makes it harder to catch up. The Guide + Workbook is built so you can start this week.
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No. The glass bottle is excluded from California's EPR Program, but you still report and pay EPR fees on your closures, capsules, boxes, and shipping supplies.
About the Guide + Workbook
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Two things: your packaging details and your sales by state. The workbook shows you exactly what to collect, and our free vendor email templates make it easy to ask your suppliers for the packaging details. Your sales reports by SKU and ship-to state come from your POS, eCommerce, and Distribution records..
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Not advanced skills. The workbook has built-in formulas, so you don’t have to create them. We recommend intermediate Excel skills, because when you use the workbook yourself, you’re responsible for checking your totals. If you’d rather not worry about the math, the EPR Analysis Service does the calculations for you.
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Most small wineries making under 15,000 cases can use the EPR for Wineries – Guide + Workbook for California. If you also file in other EPR states, choose the Guide + Multi-State Workbook. Vol 1 covers the states listed on its card. For unusually complex packaging, we also offer the EPR Analysis Service.
Get EPR Updates
Don’t get caught off guard! The EPR Program is still changing: new fees, new states, court decisions, and new deadlines. Sign up for The Crush, our monthly newsletter, and we’ll keep you up to date on the EPR changes that matter to small wineries, including when the EPR for Wineries – Guide + Workbook launches.
As a thank-you, you’ll get our free vendor email templates right away. They make it easy to ask your suppliers what your packaging is made of, and they include an AI prompt that helps decode the specs vendors send.