Georgia-Pacific updates its barcodes to speed EPR reporting

Georgia-Pacific has started tracking package weight, materials and origins — alongside traditional retail metrics — using existing barcodes. 

That change will make it simpler for the maker of Brawny and Dixie products to prepare filings for extended producer responsibility (EPR) laws taking effect in seven states. Several of them, including California, Colorado and Oregon, began requiring reports in 2025 and another wave of disclosures is due by the end of May.

Universal product codes (UPCs) — the barcodes you see on almost every sort of package — debuted in the mid-1970s to help consumer goods companies and retailers track information unique to specific products. Georgia-Pacific has expanded the catalog of data behind the codes to include information required under EPR disclosures. 

GS1, a nonprofit that maintains UPC data standards used by more than 2 million companies worldwide, began extending its framework in 2024 to define how the barcodes can help manage that information. The codes remain the same but now can be used to represent additional information.

“The notion around accuracy, completeness and consistency is so critical here,” said Melanie Nuce Hilton, senior vice president of customer success for GS1. 

GS1’s new guidance was developed in collaboration with more than 80 companies, including Georgia-Pacific, an early adopter; it is set to be finalized in 2026. The organization is focused on making sure it can be applied globally, especially in the European Union, which is implementing its own producer responsibility mandates.

EPR compliance complexities

EPR laws require “producers” to report on single-use packaging liabilities and pay fees for certain materials and formats that they ship into their jurisdictions; these fees are typically put toward recycling infrastructure investments. Each U.S. state with an EPR law in effect uses a slightly different approach when it comes to what data is relevant to the reports and what organizations qualify as producers. That’s important for fee calculations, and for making sure companies don’t overpay.

“We are able to identify what we own and which products are owned by distributors and retail partners,” said Lindsay Savage, senior director of CPG business platforms and data governance at Georgia-Pacific. “That helps us identify what we should actually report on.”

In Georgia-Pacific’s case, for example, the company might be considered the producer for its retail brands. But it might be classified differently for production of private-label products that it manufactures for other companies; in that case, the retailer might be defined as the producer. 

The prep process  

Georgia-Pacific’s project to add additional metrics about packaging weight and content started about two years ago. It was driven by compliance concerns and requests by partners and customers, Savage said.

The project was led by the company’s sustainability team and included representatives with perspectives about lead generation, pricing, data systems, sales and brand management. The group meets weekly.

Georgia-Pacific previously looked at aggregate weight and materials information on a per-product basis. It now breaks out that information for the package or box. Over time, it will get much more granular about what’s attributable to packaging, down to the tape, glue and ink.

EPR laws aren’t consistent but by using GS1’s broad guidelines to capture information about where products have been shipped and sold, Georgia-Pacific is collecting information that can be tailored to accommodate reporting differences, Savage said.

“I expect this will be iterative,” she said. “We need to be able to pivot and be agile.”