PACK Act Packaging and Claims Knowledge Act of 2025

I 119TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION H. R. 6832 To amend the Federal Trade Commission Act to include requirements for recyclable, compostable, and reusable claims for packaging for a con- sumer product, and for other purposes. IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES DECEMBER 17, 2025 Mr. WEBER of Texas introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Energy and Commerce A BILL To amend the Federal Trade Commission Act to include requirements for recyclable, compostable, and reusable claims for packaging for a consumer product, and for other purposes. Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-1 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 2 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 3 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Packaging and Claims 4 Knowledge Act of 2025’’ or the ‘‘PACK Act’’. 5 VerDate Sep 11 2014 19:24 Mar 17, 2026 Jkt 069200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H6832.IH H6832lotter on DSK8BHNXB4PROD with BILLS 2 •HR 6832 IH SEC. 2. REQUIREMENTS FOR RECYCLABLE, COMPOSTABLE, 1 AND REUSABLE CLAIMS FOR PACKAGING 2 FOR A CONSUMER PRODUCT. 3 The Federal Trade Commission Act (15 U.S.C. 41 4 et seq.) is amended by inserting after section 26 the fol-5 lowing: 6 ‘‘SEC. 27. RECYCLABLE, COMPOSTABLE, AND REUSABLE 7 CLAIMS FOR PACKAGING FOR A CONSUMER 8 PRODUCT. 9 ‘‘(a) C OMPOSTABLE, R ECYCLABLE, AND REUSABLE 10 CLAIMS.— 11 ‘‘(1) RECYCLABLE CLAIMS .— 12 ‘‘(A) D ECEPTIVE CLAIMS PROHIBITED .—A 13 person may not claim that packaging for a con-14 sumer product is recyclable if the packaging is 15 not recyclable. 16 ‘‘(B) Q UALIFYING CLAIMS OF RECYCLING 17 REQUIRED.—Except as provided in subpara-18 graph (C), a person shall clearly and promi-19 nently qualify the description of a recyclable 20 claim by informing consumers about the avail-21 ability of recycling programs and collection sites 22 where the item is sold— 23 ‘‘(i) by including the percentage of 24 consumers or communities that have access 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 19:24 Mar 17, 2026 Jkt 069200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H6832.IH H6832lotter on DSK8BHNXB4PROD with BILLS 3 •HR 6832 IH to recycle the packaging for the consumer 1 product; or 2 ‘‘(ii) by including qualifications that 3 vary in strength depending on availability. 4 ‘‘(C) E XEMPTION FROM QUALIFIED 5 CLAIMS FOR AVAILABILITY .—A person is ex-6 empt from the requirement of subparagraph 7 (B) if— 8 ‘‘(i) a recycling program or facility is 9 available to a substantial majority of con-10 sumers or communities in which the con-11 sumer product is sold; and 12 ‘‘(ii) the entire consumer product 13 package, excluding any minor incidental 14 component, is recyclable. 15 ‘‘(D) N OT RECYCLABLE .—The following 16 circumstances are not considered recyclable for 17 purposes of this paragraph: 18 ‘‘(i) A case in which any component of 19 the consumer product packaging signifi-20 cantly limits the ability to recycle the pack-21 aging of the consumer product. 22 ‘‘(ii) A case in which packaging for a 23 consumer product that is made from recy-24 clable material, but, because of the shape, 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 19:24 Mar 17, 2026 Jkt 069200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H6832.IH H6832lotter on DSK8BHNXB4PROD with BILLS 4 •HR 6832 IH size, or some other attribute of the con-1 sumer product packaging, is not accepted 2 in recycling programs. 3 ‘‘(2) C OMPOSTABLE CLAIMS FOR CONSUMER 4 PRODUCT PACKAGING .— 5 ‘‘(A) D ECEPTIVE CLAIMS PROHIBITED .—A 6 person may not make a claim that packaging 7 for a consumer product is compostable if the 8 packaging is not compostable. 9 ‘‘(B) E VIDENCE REQUIRED .—A person 10 that claims packaging for a consumer product 11 is compostable shall have competent and reli-12 able scientific evidence that the packaging is 13 compostable. 14 ‘‘(C) Q UALIFYING CLAIM OF 15 COMPOSTABILITY REQUIRED .—A person shall 16 clearly and prominently include a qualifying de-17 scription on any claim that the packaging for a 18 consumer product is compostable to the extent 19 necessary to inform consumers about the ability 20 of the packaging to be composted if— 21 ‘‘(i) the consumer product packaging 22 cannot be composted safely or in a timely 23 manner in a home compost pile or device; 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 19:24 Mar 17, 2026 Jkt 069200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H6832.IH H6832lotter on DSK8BHNXB4PROD with BILLS 5 •HR 6832 IH ‘‘(ii) the claim misleads reasonable 1 consumers about the environmental benefit 2 provided when the consumer product pack-3 aging is disposed of in a landfill; or 4 ‘‘(iii) municipal or institutional 5 composting facilities are not available 6 where the item is sold to a substantial ma-7 jority of consumers or communities. 8 ‘‘(3) R EUSABLE CLAIMS FOR CONSUMER PROD -9 UCT PACKAGING .— 10 ‘‘(A) D ECEPTIVE CLAIMS PROHIBITED .—A 11 person may not claim that packaging for a con-12 sumer product is reusable if the packaging is 13 not reusable. 14 ‘‘(B) M EANS FOR REUSE REQUIRED .—A 15 person may not make an unqualified reusable 16 claim for consumer product packaging unless 17 the person provides the means for reusing the 18 packaging through— 19 ‘‘(i) providing a system for the collec-20 tion and reuse of the packaging; or 21 ‘‘(ii) offering for sale a product that 22 consumers can purchase to reuse the origi-23 nal packaging. 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 19:24 Mar 17, 2026 Jkt 069200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H6832.IH H6832lotter on DSK8BHNXB4PROD with BILLS 6 •HR 6832 IH ‘‘(4) U SE OF RESIN IDENTIFICATION CODES .— 1 Consumer product packaging that is not eligible to 2 bear a compostable, recyclable, or reusable claim 3 shall not bear a resin identification code that is sur-4 rounded by three chasing, triangulated arrows, ex-5 cept that such packaging may bear a resin identi-6 fication code that is surrounded by an equilateral 7 triangle, consistent with ASTM International Stand-8 ard D7611/D7611M–19. 9 ‘‘(5) T HIRD-PARTY CERTIFICATION .—A person 10 may not make a claim that packaging for a con-11 sumer product is compostable, recyclable, or reusable 12 unless an accredited third-party certification body 13 has certified such claim. 14 ‘‘(6) R ULE OF CONSTRUCTION .—This section 15 may not be construed to apply to packaging that is 16 not for a consumer product. 17 ‘‘(b) COMMISSION GUIDANCE.— 18 ‘‘(1) I N GENERAL .—Not later than two years 19 after the date of the enactment of this section, the 20 Commission shall issue guidance for a person to be 21 in compliance with subsection (a) that includes the 22 following: 23 VerDate Sep 11 2014 19:24 Mar 17, 2026 Jkt 069200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H6832.IH H6832lotter on DSK8BHNXB4PROD with BILLS 7 •HR 6832 IH ‘‘(A) Criteria for accreditation bodies to 1 consider in accrediting third party certification 2 bodies, including whether— 3 ‘‘(i) a third party certification body 4 meets the requirements of ISO/IEC 5 17065:2012, including any amendment; 6 and 7 ‘‘(ii) such body is qualified to certify 8 compostable, recyclable, and reusable 9 claims for consumer product packaging 10 consistent with the requirements described 11 in this section. 12 ‘‘(B) A consideration of different types of 13 consumer product packaging materials, includ-14 ing paper, plastic, glass, metal, or a combina-15 tion thereof. 16 ‘‘(C) A consideration of different colors, 17 shapes, and sizes of consumer product pack-18 aging materials. 19 ‘‘(2) RULES AND REGULATIONS PROHIBITED .— 20 Notwithstanding section 6(g), the Commission may 21 not issue any binding rule or regulation under this 22 section. 23 ‘‘(3) P ERSONNEL AND FORMATION OF ADVI -24 SORY COUNCIL .—In issuing guidance and in admin-25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 19:24 Mar 17, 2026 Jkt 069200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H6832.IH H6832lotter on DSK8BHNXB4PROD with BILLS 8 •HR 6832 IH istering the provisions of this section the Commis-1 sion shall— 2 ‘‘(A) work with and consider input from 3 the Administrator to leverage the knowledge of 4 the Environmental Protection Agency on issues 5 related to waste and product lifecycle manage-6 ment, including on issues relating to the use 7 and management of compostable, recyclable, 8 and reusable consumer product packaging; and 9 ‘‘(B) not later than one year after the date 10 of the enactment of this section, the Commis-11 sion shall establish an advisory council that 12 meets at least annually and is comprised of 13 subject matter and technical experts rep-14 resenting industry stakeholders, including pack-15 aging material suppliers, manufacturers of con-16 sumer products, and entities involved in the col-17 lection and management of discarded consumer 18 product packaging. 19 ‘‘(c) E NFORCEMENT BY FEDERAL TRADE COMMIS-20 SION.— 21 ‘‘(1) U NFAIR AND DECEPTIVE ACTS OR PRAC -22 TICES.—A violation of this section shall be treated 23 as a violation of a rule defining an unfair or decep-24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 19:24 Mar 17, 2026 Jkt 069200 PO 00000 Frm 00008 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H6832.IH H6832lotter on DSK8BHNXB4PROD with BILLS 9 •HR 6832 IH tive act or practice prescribed under section 1 18(a)(1)(B). 2 ‘‘(2) POWERS OF THE COMMISSION .— 3 ‘‘(A) I N GENERAL .—The Commission shall 4 enforce this section in the same manner, by the 5 same means, and with the same jurisdiction, 6 powers, and duties as though all applicable 7 terms and provisions of this section were incor-8 porated into and made a part of this section. 9 ‘‘(B) P RIVILEGES AND IMMUNITIES .—Any 10 person that violates this section shall be subject 11 to the penalties, and entitled to the privileges 12 and immunities, provided in this Act. 13 ‘‘(C) C OMPELLED CLAIMS .—The Commis-14 sion may not compel, require, or otherwise man-15 date a person to make a claim that consumer 16 product packaging is compostable, recyclable, or 17 reusable. 18 ‘‘(3) P REEMPTION.—A State and political sub-19 division of a State may not establish, enforce, or 20 continue in effect any provision of law or a legal re-21 quirement that is not identical with any requirement 22 under this section. 23 ‘‘(d) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 19:24 Mar 17, 2026 Jkt 069200 PO 00000 Frm 00009 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H6832.IH H6832lotter on DSK8BHNXB4PROD with BILLS 10 •HR 6832 IH ‘‘(1) A CCREDITATION.—The term ‘accredita-1 tion’ means a determination by an accreditation 2 body that a third-party certification body meets the 3 applicable requirements of ISO/IEC 17065:2012, in-4 cluding any amendment, and is qualified to certify 5 compostable, recyclable, and reusable claims for con-6 sumer product packaging. 7 ‘‘(2) A CCREDITATION BODY .—The term ‘ac-8 creditation body’ means a person that performs ac-9 creditation of third-party certification bodies and is 10 in compliance with ISO/IEC 17011:2017, including 11 any amendment. 12 ‘‘(3) A CCREDITED THIRD -PARTY CERTIFI -13 CATION BODY .—The term ‘accredited third-party 14 certification body’ means a third-party certification 15 body that an accreditation body has determined 16 meets the requirements of ISO/IEC 17065:2012, in-17 cluding any amendment, and is qualified to certify 18 and is certifying compostable, recyclable, and reus-19 able claims for consumer product packaging. 20 ‘‘(4) A DMINISTRATOR.—The term ‘Adminis-21 trator’ means the Administrator of the Environ-22 mental Protection Agency. 23 ‘‘(5) CLAIM.—The term ‘claim’— 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 19:24 Mar 17, 2026 Jkt 069200 PO 00000 Frm 00010 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H6832.IH H6832lotter on DSK8BHNXB4PROD with BILLS 11 •HR 6832 IH ‘‘(A) means any statement or representa-1 tion that is conveyed through any means, in-2 cluding through writing, symbols, marks, graph-3 ics, or electronic or digital links; and 4 ‘‘(B) does not include any instruction re-5 garding how to recycle, compost, or reuse pack-6 aging. 7 ‘‘(6) C OMMISSION.—The term ‘Commission’ 8 means the Federal Trade Commission. 9 ‘‘(7) C OMPOSTABLE.—The term ‘compostable’ 10 means the packaging is designed to be associated 11 with materials collected for composting that meets 12 ASTM or equivalent industrial compostability stand-13 ards, and similarly appropriate standards for the 14 case of home compostability, and is capable of 15 breaking down into, or otherwise becoming part of, 16 stable and mature compost at an appropriate indus-17 trial composting facility, or in a home compost pile 18 or device. 19 ‘‘(8) C ONSUMER PRODUCT .—The term ‘con-20 sumer product’ means— 21 ‘‘(A) any tangible product; 22 ‘‘(B) that is— 23 ‘‘(i) sold, offered for sale, or distrib-24 uted in the United States, or intended to 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 19:24 Mar 17, 2026 Jkt 069200 PO 00000 Frm 00011 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H6832.IH H6832lotter on DSK8BHNXB4PROD with BILLS 12 •HR 6832 IH be sold, offered for sale, or distributed in 1 the United States; and 2 ‘‘(ii) to a person that is an individual 3 consumer and not a trust, firm, joint stock 4 company, corporation (including a govern-5 ment corporation), partnership, associa-6 tion, State, municipality, commission, po-7 litical subdivision of a State, or any inter-8 state body, including any department, 9 agency, and instrumentality of the United 10 States; and 11 ‘‘(C) which is normally used or consumed 12 by an individual consumer, including for per-13 sonal, recreational, educational, family, house-14 hold, or personal property maintenance or care 15 purposes, including any product that is ordi-16 narily available for purchase by an individual 17 consumer. 18 ‘‘(9) PACKAGING.—The term ‘packaging’ means 19 any material that is used for the containment, pro-20 tection, handling, delivery, and presentation of a 21 tangible product that is sold, offered for sale, or dis-22 tributed in the United States. 23 VerDate Sep 11 2014 19:24 Mar 17, 2026 Jkt 069200 PO 00000 Frm 00012 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H6832.IH H6832lotter on DSK8BHNXB4PROD with BILLS 13 •HR 6832 IH ‘‘(10) P ERSON.—The term ‘person’ means any 1 individual, partnership, corporation, trust, estate, co-2 operative, association, or other entity. 3 ‘‘(11) R ECYCLABLE.—The term ‘recyclable’ 4 means that packaging can be collected, sorted, re-5 processed, and ultimately reused in manufacturing 6 or to make another item. 7 ‘‘(12) R EUSABLE.—The term ‘reusable’ means 8 the packaging is designed to accomplish within the 9 life cycle of the packaging more than one trip, rota-10 tion, or use for the same purpose for which the 11 packaging was primarily designed. 12 ‘‘(13) S UBSTANTIAL MAJORITY .—The term 13 ‘substantial majority’ means 60 percent or more. 14 ‘‘(14) T HIRD-PARTY CERTIFICATION BODY .— 15 The term ‘third-party certification body’ means a 16 person that is eligible to be considered for accredita-17 tion to evaluate, develop, and certify compostable, 18 recyclable, and reusable claims for consumer product 19 packaging.’’. 20 Æ VerDate Sep 11 2014 19:24 Mar 17, 2026 Jkt 069200 PO 00000 Frm 00013 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\H6832.IH H6832lotter on DSK8BHNXB4PROD with BILLS