Just Hearing About California’s EPR Program? You’re Already Late.
If your winery isn’t exempt, four California EPR reports 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.
Get the state-by-state packaging totals your reports ask for. Our EPR for Wineries – Course + Workbook gets you the state-by-state packaging totals your reports ask for, or our EPR Analysis Service can calculate them for you.
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Why you need this
The EPR Program in California now 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, this is a brand-new report, with deadlines and penalties to match.
And wineries can’t fly under the radar. CalRecycle already knows your winery through the CRV program, and the lawsuits against SB 54 haven’t paused a single deadline. The next reports, using your 2026 data, are due May 31, 2027.
The report isn't about the wine. It's about the closures, capsules, labels, boxes and shipping supplies that went out with it, and how much of each went into each state. At most wineries, those details are scattered across the winemaker’s files, the bookkeeper’s desk and a stack of vendor paperwork. And once you’ve gathered them, you still have to calculate the weight of each material.
Not sure whether your winery has to report? Start with our EPR for Wineries overview, or find out whether you qualify for the Small Producer Exemption.
Why EPR reporting feels 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, acronyms, 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 it has to be done again every year, in every EPR state where your wine is shipped, each with its own rules, as more states add EPR Programs.
What the workbook helps you do
A clear, step-by-step process for turning your sales and packaging information into your California packaging totals.
Understand the rules and terms in plain English, with references to the regulations.
Organize the packaging details you need from your vendors.
List each wine's packaging materials and weights in one document.
Know which sales reports to pull, then let built-in formulas summarize sales by state and flag missing information.
Calculate a summary of your California packaging totals, ready to enter in the CAA portal. Have complex packaging, or prefer to skip the calculations? Let our EPR Analysis Service do the math (sold separately).
See What EPR Reporting Really Asks For
The CAA's report asks for total packaging weights by material, in pounds, for every state. See what that looks like, where the numbers come from, and the finished summary of packaging totals you'll enter into it.
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Get Started with
EPR Reporting for Wineries
Details on the course + workbook soon. Signup below for updates.
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EPR for Wineries – Course + Workbook
Best For:
Every small winery that needs packaging totals for EPR reporting
Includes:
Full EPR Workbook
Example workbook
Video course
EPR for Wineries Guide
Checklist
Two-page SOP Summary
One-time purchase
DIY calculations (optional)
Prefer to have the math done for you? See the EPR Analysis Service.
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EPR Analysis Service
Best For:
Wineries with complex packaging that would rather have the calculations done
Includes:
Preliminary Report for each state by Material ID
California plastic weight and component count
Summary of all packaging materials by type
Reporting tips for each state
For up to 500 SKUs and 3 EPR states
Requires the EPR for Wineries – Course + Workbook (a one-time purchase)
Priced per reporting year.
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EPR Analysis Service – Custom
Best For:
Wineries with more than 500 SKUs or more than 3 EPR states
Includes:
Everything in the EPR Analysis Service
A quote based on your SKUs and states
Requires the EPR for Wineries – Course + Workbook (a one-time purchase)
Priced per reporting year.
About the EPR Program
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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.
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No, but don’t wait. Wineries with less than $1 million in California sales may qualify for the Small Producer Exemption, but only if they apply. Read Is Your Winery Exempt from California EPR? Everyone else should register with the CAA, then start gathering their packaging and sales information.
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No. The workbook gives you the total weight of each California Material ID, and the EPR Analysis Service gives you totals using each state’s Material IDs. Either way, you decide which materials to include and submit the reports yourself.
About the Workbook
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The work depends more on how many kinds of packaging you use than on the size of your winery. Setting up the workbook the first time takes the longest. Updating it each year is much quicker.
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Yes. The workbook becomes your library of packaging materials and SKUs. Use it every year, adding the new SKUs you bottled and any new materials you started using.
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The workbook creates a Preliminary Report showing the total weight of each Material ID used on the products you sold into California. It is "preliminary" because you still decide which materials to include in your CAA reports.
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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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The standard workbook is built for California and includes the plastic calculations. If you report in California, use the California workbook, even if you also report in other states. California’s requirements are the most detailed, so your totals can be converted to other states’ Material IDs, but a workbook built for another state can’t be converted back to California. If you report only outside California, email us and we’ll create a workbook using your state’s Material IDs.
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The only rules built into the workbook are the Material IDs and Material Classes, and we don't expect those to change. Which materials you report may change, so that decision isn’t built into the workbook. The EPR Analysis Service includes current tips on which materials to report in each state and is updated each year.
About the EPR Analysis Service
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Everyone starts with the EPR for Wineries – Course + Workbook, a one-time purchase. The Guide explains the key decisions that set your level of detail, and that drives how complex your workbook will be. Once you’ve filled in the workbook, you can do the calculations yourself or send it to our EPR Analysis Service, and we’ll do the math for you.
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The standard service covers up to 500 SKUs and 3 EPR states, and shows your totals using each state’s Material IDs, with tips on reporting in each state. If you have more SKUs or sell into more states, contact us for a quote.
Free Vendor Email Templates
Your first step is finding out what each piece of your packaging is made of. Our free vendor email templates make it easy to ask your vendors, and they include an AI prompt that helps ChatGPT, or another AI tool, decipher the specs your vendors send. (Hint: many materials contain hidden plastic.)
You’ll also get The Crush, our monthly newsletter, with EPR updates and news when the EPR for Wineries – Course + Workbook launches.