Foodservice ware supplier Lollicup USA has taken the next step in its class action lawsuit challenging the state’s extended producer responsibility for packaging law. The plaintiff, as well as defendant Leah Feldon, director of the Oregon Department of Environmental Quality, jointly moved to stay the case on Friday, pending the appeal by the National Association of Wholesaler-Distributors in its related case.
Judge Michael H. Simon upheld the constitutionality of Oregon’s packaging EPR law in August following the NAW v. Feldon trial in July. Simon is also overseeing the Lollicup case, which was first filed in June.
NAW’s opening brief on appeal is due Dec. 17, and Feldon’s answering brief is due Jan. 18, the Friday filing notes.
“How the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit resolves the NAWD appeal will have direct implications for Lollicup and may even be dispositive. In the meantime, however, companies remain subject to their compliance obligations under Oregon’s EPR program,” said Jennifer Kwapisz, partner at Arnold & Porter, in an emailed analysis.
“While the parties in [the Lollicup case] had reached a stipulated agreement that the Oregon Department of Environmental Quality would not undertake certain enforcement measures while awaiting a decision from the trial court in [the NAW case], that agreement appears to have expired on August 31, 2026,” Kwapisz noted. The new filing “makes no mention of extending or renewing that agreement.”
In Friday’s filing, the parties proposed filing a joint status report every six months during the stay, beginning April 16, 2027. The parties would also file a joint status report proposing a schedule for the case within 15 days of the Ninth Circuit issuing a mandate in the NAW appeal.
Multiple other legal challenges to packaging EPR programs are still working their way through courts in California and Colorado.
